By Dees Stribling | MHN Online
Mortgage rates are continuing their upward creep, but the housing market still seems to soldier on in its recovery. Freddie Mac reported on Thursday that 30-year fixed mortgages averaged 4.58 percent (with 0.8 points) for the week ending Aug. 22, the highest average in about two years. During the same week last year, the average for a 30-year mortgage was 3.66 percent.
“Fixed mortgage rates continued to follow bond yields higher leading up to the August 21 release of the Federal Reserve monetary policy committee’s minutes for July,” Freddie Mac chief economist Frank Nothaft noted in a press statement. “Meeting participants acknowledged mortgage rate increases might restrain housing market activity, but several members expressed confidence the housing recovery would be resilient in the face of higher rates.”
