Mortgage Rates Rise This Week; 30-Year Fixed At 5.03% -Freddie

   DOW JONES NEWSWIRES 
 

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

Treasury yields, which hit multi-decade lows earlier this year, have been creeping up recently after they retraced down from a big rebound in the summer. Mortgage rates tend to follow Treasury yields.

Earlier this week, the S&P Case-Shiller index showed U.S. home prices increased for the fourth consecutive month in August, and the Commerce Department said last week that new-home building rose a third time in four months during September. However, the gain in September building failed to erase all the declines in August.

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5.03% for the week ended Thursday, up from last week's 5% average but down from 6.46% a year ago. Rates on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages were 4.46%, up from 4.43% last week but falling from 6.19% a year earlier.

Five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 4.42%, up from last week's 4.4% and down from 6.36% a year earlier. One-year Treasury-indexed ARMs were 4.57%, up from 4.54% last week but down from a year-earlier 5.38%.

To obtain the rates, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage required payment of an average 0.7 point, while the rest 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]