Fixed Rates Climb

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate rose to 5.95% for the week ending Oct. 10 from 5.77% the previous week, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey.The average 15-year fixed mortgage rate rose from 5.10% to 5.26%, and the average rate for one-year Treasury-indexed adjustable-rate mortgages declined from 3.72% to 3.69%. Fees and points averaged 0.6 points for all three mortgage categories. "Not only did the market get good news about September employment last week, but it was further bolstered by the upward revision of jobs in August," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac's chief economist. "This inspired a little optimism in the market that we may have bottomed out as far as job losses are concerned." A year ago, the average 30-year and 15-year fixed rates were 5.98% and 5.34%, respectively, and the average one-year ARM rate was 4.23%, Freddie Mac said. Freddie Mac can be found online at http://www.freddiemac.com.