Fixed Rates Climb

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate rose to 6.04% for the week ending March 31 from 6.01% the previous week, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey.The average 15-year fixed mortgage rate rose from 5.56% to 5.58%, the average rate for five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 5.43%, up from 5.35%,and the average rate for one-year Treasury-indexed ARMs rose from 4.24% to 4.33%. Fees and points averaged 0.7 of a point for fixed-rate mortgages and 0.8 of a point for ARMs. "Financial markets currently are very inflation sensitive, putting upward pressure on mortgage rates," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac's chief economist. However, several economic indicators suggest that the economy isn’t overheating and that inflation is relatively contained.” A year ago, the average 30-year and 15-year fixed rates were 5.52% and 4.84%, respectively, and the average one year-year ARM rate was 3.46%. Freddie Mac can be found online at http://www.freddiemac.com.