Mortgage Rates Increase for 9th Consecutive Week

Mortgage rates inched upward, but it was enough to extend the climb to a ninth consecutive week, with the benchmark 30-year fixed mortgage rate now at 4.32 percent, according to Bankrate.com’s weekly national survey. The 30-year fixed mortgage has an average of 0.24 discount and origination points.

The larger jumbo 30-year fixed similarly nosed higher to 4.37 percent, and the average 15-year fixed mortgage rate reset a 32-month high of 3.57 percent. Adjustable mortgage rates were mixed, with the 3-year ARM slipping to 3.48 percent while the 5-year ARM rose to 3.57 percent.

Mortgage rates increased for a ninth week in a row and the 12th time in the past 13 weeks, with rates holding steady the only week they didn’t move lower during that stretch. As a result, benchmark 30-year fixed mortgage rates did not decline once during the fourth calendar quarter of 2016, the first time that has happened in the 31 years that Bankrate has been conducting a national mortgage rate survey. At the current average 30-year fixed mortgage rate of 4.32 percent, the monthly payment for a $200,000 loan is $992.09.