30-Year Rate Back Above 6%

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate rose to 6.01% for the week ending April 30 from 5.94% the previous week, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey.The average 15-year fixed mortgage rate rose from 5.25% to 5.35%, and the average rate for one-year Treasury-indexed ARMs climbed from 3.69% to 3.75%. Fees and points averaged 0.7 of a point for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages and 0.6 of a point for the other two mortgage categories. "With financial markets more optimistic that the economy is expanding nicely, mortgage rates had nowhere to go but up this week," said Amy Crews Cutts, Freddie Mac's deputy chief economist. A year ago, the average 30-year and 15-year fixed rates were 5.70% and 5.03%, respectively, and the average one-year ARM rate was 3.74%, Freddie Mac said. Freddie Mac can be found online at http://www.freddiemac.com.