NEW YORK, June 29 (UPI) -- U.S. fixed mortgage rates have increased for the third consecutive week as higher interest rate expectations take hold.
Bankrate.com said Thursday that the average 30-year fixed rate mortgage in the United States jumped last week from 6.83 percent to 6.93 percent, the highest since April 17, 2002.
Mortgage rates were largely unchanged from late April to mid-June. But the past three weeks have seen fixed mortgage rates rise nearly one-quarter percentage point.
Typically, interest rate moves by the Federal Open Market Committee don't have a direct impact on fixed mortgage rates, and that has been the case for much of the past two years, Bankrate.com said.
"But in recent weeks, fixed mortgage rates have climbed as bond investors come to grips with accelerating inflation and the prospect that the Fed will continue to raise interest rates. Mortgage rates are closely related to yields on long-term government bonds. With the yield on 10-year Treasury notes, the benchmark for fixed mortgage rates, roughly equal to what the fed funds rate will be following the Fed's meeting, further rate hikes may mean more of the same for mortgage rates."
