Fixed mortgage rates increased sharply this week on better-than-expected reports concerning private job growth and new-home sales, Freddie Mac reported.

Rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 4.46 percent with an average point of 0.5 for the week ending Dec. 5, up from 4.29 percent last week and 3.34 percent a year ago, according to Freddie Mac’s latest Primary Mortgage Market Survey.

Rates on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages and five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) loans also increased, while rates on one-year Treasury-indexed ARMs slipped.

Source: Freddie Mac