COOP - 30-year fixed rate mortgage breaks above 5% highest since 2013

The 30-year fixed rate mortgage averaged above 5.02% on Tuesday, according to Mortgage News Daily, the first time the rate has been over 5% since 2013 except for one day in 2018, CNBC said. The hike in the closely watched interest rate is making it even more expensive for consumers to buy homes. U.S. home prices rose 20% in February from a year ago, CoreLogic said in a report Tuesday. The 5.02% 30Y FRM rate is more than 1 percentage point higher than the 3.38% average a year ago. That also means consumers will be less likely to refinance their existing mortgages. Mortgage servicer stocks New Residential Investment (NYSE:NRZ -1.0%), Ocwen Financial (NYSE:OCN -5.5%), Mr. Cooper (NASDAQ:COOP -2.5%), and PennyMac Financial Services (PFSI -2.5%) are falling in midafternoon trading on Tuesday. Most mortgage REIT shares are also in the red — iShares Mortgage Real Estate Capped ETF (REM -0.9%). Homebuilders

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30-year fixed rate mortgage breaks above 5%, highest since 2013