Mortgage rates are skyrocketing thanks to the Fed, but buyers who can tough out this difficult, changing market will be rewarded.
The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5.27% for the week ending May 5, according to data released by Freddie Mac on Thursday. That’s up 17 basis points from the previous week—one basis point is equal to one hundredth of a percentage point, or 1% of 1%.
This represents the highest point for the benchmark 30-year mortgage product since August 2009. To put that in context: The last time mortgage rates were this high Barack Obama was just months into his first term as president, the nation was in the depths of the Great Recession and Instagram had yet to be launched.
The average rate on the 15-year fixed-rate mortgage rose 12 basis points over the past week to 4.52%. The 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage averaged 3.96%, up 18 basis points from the prior week.
Mortgage rates are roughly benchmarked to the yield on the 10-year Treasury note. But the difference between the average rate on the 30-year mortgage and the 10-year Treasury has widened recently.
Since the end of the Great Recession, the spread between the two has averaged 1.7 percentage points, but currently it hovers above 2%. If the spread were closer to historical levels, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage would still be below 5%.
The Federal Reserve is largely to blame for the fact that mortgage rates increased at a faster pace than might otherwise be expected, according to analysis from Odeta Kushi, deputy chief economist at title insurer First American. Investors who buy mortgage-backed securities have already factored in expectations that the Federal Reserve will continue to raise rates throughout this year into their view on the mortgage market.
Lenders, consequently, must hike the rates they offer consumers so that they can continue to sell their loans to investors—those sales are what generates the funds used to produce more mortgages.
