Mortgage Rates Rise This Week; 30-Year Fixed At 4.92% -Freddie

   DOW JONES NEWSWIRES 
 

Mortgage rates rose slightly this week, although the average rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages remained under 5% for the third consecutive week, according to Freddie Mac's (FRE) weekly survey of mortgage rates.

After yields on Treasurys rose on a rebound from the multi-decade lows, they have fallen a bit, taking mortgage rates along with them. However, Treasury yields have climbed in the last couple weeks, moving some rates from record lows recently seen.

Home sales have rebounded due to the drop in rates and in prices, plus a $8,000 tax credit for first-time buyers. New-home sales have gone up for five straight months, according to the Commerce Department. Earlier this month, National Association of Realtors data showed pending home sales spiked much more than expected in August, the seventh consecutive monthly increase to the highest level in two years.

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.92% for the week ended Thursday, up from last week's 4.87% average but down from 6.46% a year ago. Rates on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages were 4.37%, up from a record low of 4.33% last week but down from 6.14% a year earlier.

Five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 4.38%, up from last week's record 4.35% but down from 6.14% a year earlier. One-year Treasury-indexed ARMs were 4.6%, up from 4.53% last week but down from 5.16% a year earlier.

To obtain the rates, the fixed-rate mortgages required payment of an average 0.7 point. The five-year adjustable-rate mortgages required an average 0.6 point, while the one-year required 0.5 point. A point is 1% of the mortgage amount, charged as prepaid interest.

-By Joan E. Solsman, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2291; [e-mail]