Mortgage Rates Rise This Week; 30-Year Fixed At 5.14% -Freddie

   DOW JONES NEWSWIRES 
 

Mortgage rates rose slightly this week, with the average rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages moving further above 5%, according to Freddie Mac's (FRE) weekly survey of mortgage rates.

Mortgage rates had fallen earlier this year as providers try to entice buyers amid the housing market downturn, but yields on Treasurys have since rebounded from decade lows, bringing mortgage rates along with them.

Wednesday, the Commerce Department reported new-home sales rose for the fourth month in a row in July, helping to reduce the number of new unsold houses on the market. Separate data showed existing-home sales reaching a two-year high on an annual basis during the month.

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5.14% for the week ended Thursday, up from last week's 5.12% average but down from 6.4% a year ago. Rates on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages were 4.58%, up from 4.56% last week but down from 5.93% a year earlier.

Five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 4.67%, up from last week's 4.57% but down from 6.03% a year earlier. One-year Treasury-indexed ARMs were 4.69%, flat with last week's rate and down from 5.33% last year.

To obtain the rates, the fixed-rate mortgages required payment of an average 0.7 point and the adjustable-rate mortgages required an average 0.6 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]