HousingWire reports that 30-year, fixed rate mortgages hit 5.05 percent last week, the highest they’ve been since April of 2010. The rate one year ago was 4.97 percent. According to Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey, rates for a 15-year FRM increased from last week to 4.29 percent, up from 4.08 percent, but still lower than the 4.34 percent of a year ago. Freddie’s chief economist credits the mortgage rate rise to the highest increase in non-farm productivity since 2002, the expansion of the service industry in January at the fastest pace since 2005, and the falling of unemployment claims last month from 9.4 percent to 9 percent.
