The numbers: Mortgage rates are up for the fourth week in a row. The 30-year fixed mortgage rate hit 7.1%, up from 6.94% midweek, according to data mortgage broker data released Thursday by Mortgage News Daily.
Mortgage News Daily says its index is driven by real-time changes in actual lender rate sheets. On Sunday, that 30-year rate had eased slightly to 6.97%. Separately, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.65% as of March 2, up 15 basis points from the previous week, Freddie Mac
FMCC,
-0.90%
also said Thursday. The 30-year was last at this level in mid-November 2022. One basis point is equal to one hundredth of a percentage point. Last week, the 30-year was at 6.5%. Last year, the 30-year was averaging at 3.76%, Freddie Mac said. The average rate on the 15-year mortgage rose to 5.89%, from 5.76% the previous week. The 15-year was at 3.01% a year ago. Freddie Mac’s weekly report on mortgage rates is based on thousands of applications received from lenders across the country that are submitted to Freddie Mac when a borrower applies for a mortgage. Separate data by Mortgage News Daily said that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was averaging at 6.94% as of Thursday morning. Mortgage demand fell in the latest week as rates rose, according to a separate report by the Mortgage Bankers Association. Purchase applications have dropped to the lowest level in 28 years. What Freddie Mac said: “Given sustaine …