The average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage was 4.23 percent, up from 4.12 percent last week and the highest since early May, Freddie Mac said in a statement today. The average 15-year rate rose to 3.37 percent from 3.26 percent, according to the McLean, Virginia-based mortgage-finance company.
Federal Reserve policy makers yesterday tapered monthly bond buying to $15 billion in their seventh consecutive $10 billion cut, staying on course for an October end to the program intended to keep rates low. The Fed maintained a commitment to keep the benchmark interest rate near zero for a “considerable time” after the asset purchases are completed, saying the economy is expanding at a moderate pace.
“Interest rates can’t forever ignore the increasingly good economic news,” said Keith Gumbinger, vice president of HSH.com, a Riverdale, New Jersey-based mortgage-data firm. “The window has narrowed a little bit for homebuyers. Odds are we will see some more narrowing as time goes buy.”
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