US Mortgage Rates Climb by Decade-High to Historic 4.8%

Source: Reuters

Mortgage rates in the United States grew at the fastest pace in over a decade in the past week, with investors repositioning for more rate hikes by the Federal Reserve. XHB is down 1.86%, while ITB is down 1.07%.

• Data from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) showed that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rate increased to 4.8% in the week ending March 25, up from 4.5%.
• The latest increase is the biggest weekly increase in 11 years since February 2011, driving rates to the highest in over three years since December 2018.
• The growth brings the year-to-date rate up 1.5 percentage points, marking the biggest jump in 28 years since 1994.
• The refinance index meanwhile fell 14.9% to the lowest since May 2019, and the purchase index was nearly unchanged.
• The seasonally adjusted Market Composite Index fell by 6.8% to 425.1, marking the lowest since December 2019.