US Mortgage Rates Move Higher

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U.S. mortgages rates rose for the first time in three weeks as new data suggested a positive outlook for the economy.

The average rate for a 30-year-fixed rate mortgage was 4.16 percent this week, up from 4.10 percent a week ago, according to Freddie Mac. A year ago the 30-year fixed rate stood at 3.4 percent.

After steadily increasing over the summer, rates dropped recently in the wake of the government shutdown and uncertainly over Federal Reserve

"Production in the manufacturing industry expanded for the fifth month in a row in October to the strongest pace since April 2011," said Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist, Freddie Mac. "Similarly, the non-manufacturing sector grew for the second consecutive month in October and beat the market consensus forecast of a decline."

The Mortgage Bankers Association recently predicted rates would rise above 5 percent in 2014.

More from the Freddie Mac report:

• The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage this week averaged 3.27 percent with an average 0.7 point, up from last week when it averaged 3.20 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 2.69 percent.

• Five-year Treasury-index hybrid adjustable rate mortgages (ARM) averaged 2.96 percent this week with an average 0.5 point, unchanged from last week. A year ago, the 5-year ARM averaged 2.73 percent.

• One-year Treasury-indexed ARM averaged 2.61 percent this week with an average 0.5 point, down from last week when it averaged 2.64 percent. At this time last year, the 1-year ARM averaged 2.59 percent.