Having dropped to a three-year low of 3.57 percent, the average rate for a benchmark 30-year mortgage has ticked up 7 basis points to 3.64 percent over the past two weeks but remains 33 basis points below the 3.97 percent rate in place prior to the Fed’s first rate hike in December and 23 basis points below the 3.87 percent average rate recorded at the same time last year.
The uptick can be attributed to the Fed keeping the possibility of a summer rate-hike alive.
According to the futures market, the probability of the Fed instituting a hike by the end of July now stands at 57 percent and the probability of a hike by the end of the year at 81 percent, up from 56 percent two weeks ago.