Mortgage rates rose this week with the 30-year fixed rate average now at 6.9 percent, according to Freddie Mac. A year ago it stood at 5.13 percent. The combination of upbeat economic data and the U.S. credit rating downgrade were behind the upside move, it said.
“Despite higher rates and lower purchase demand, home prices have increased due to very low unsold inventory,” the report stated. Freddie Mac operates in the U.S. secondary mortgage market, buying loans from lenders who are then able to provide more loans. Freddie Mac then pools the mortgages it buys into securities which it sells to investors.