(Silver Spring) The 30-year average mortgage rate broke 3.0% this week in the United States.
Loan firm Freddie Mac said Thursday that the 30-year average rate jumped 3.10% from its 2.98% value last week. On the same date last year, the rate was 2.72%.
Over 15 years, a term popular with homeowners looking to refinance their mortgage, the rate has fallen from 2.27% to 2.39%. At the same date last year, it stood at 2.28%.
As the job market improves and demand for goods and services does not falter, the United States Federal Reserve announced earlier this month that it would keep its policy rate near zero . The central bank warned, however, that this extraordinary measure to stimulate the economy in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic would be phased out.
Strong consumer demand combined with supply shortages has pushed prices up in just about every industry, wiping out some of the recent gains in workers’ compensation.
The government reported last week that consumer prices jumped 6.2% in October on an annual basis. This is the highest inflation observed in the United States since 1990.
In the real estate market, the low supply that prevailed even before the pandemic and new shortages of materials and labor have pushed property values up by more than 10% in the past year or even even up to 33% in some areas of the west of the country.