Mortgage interest rates increased the week of July 15th, 2019 based on a probable short-term rate decrease by the Federal Reserve later this month. The average mortgage interest rate this week was 3.81%, up from 3.75% a week earlier. In contrast, rates were 4.52% a year ago.
According to Sam Khater, the chief economist at Freddie Mac, “The rise in interest rates was driven by continued improvement in consumer spending and partly due to optimism around a forthcoming cut in short term interest rates, which should provide support for business and investor sentiment.”