30-Year Rate Rises

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate rose from 6.14% to 6.17% over the seven-day period ended Dec. 27, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey.The average 15-year fixed mortgage rate held steady at 5.79%, the average rate for five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages was also unchanged, at 5.90%, and the average rate for one-year Treasury-indexed ARMs rose from 5.51% to 5.53%, Freddie Mac reported. Fees and points averaged 0.5 of a point for fixed-rate mortgages and hybrid ARMs and 0.7 of a point for one-year ARMs. "Stronger consumer spending and an increase in the core price deflator in November caused long-term bond yields to inch up over the end of last week and beginning of this week, with mortgage rates following," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac's chief economist. "Offsetting some of the increase, however, was a decline in November's index of leading economic indicators and a weak manufacturing report in Philadelphia for December." A year ago, the average 30-year and 15-year fixed rates were 6.18% and 5.93%, respectively, and the average hybrid and one-year ARM rates were 5.98% and 5.47%, Freddie Mac said. Freddie can be found online at http://www.freddiemac.com.