Fixed Rates Jump

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate jumped to 5.40% for the week ending July 4 from 5.24% the previous week, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey.The average 15-year fixed mortgage rate rose from 4.63% to 4.75%, and the average rate for one-year Treasury-indexed adjustable-rate mortgages rose from a record low of 3.45% to 3.49%. Fees and points averaged 0.5 points for fixed-rate mortgages and 0.7 points for ARMs. "Mortgage rates are back to the same level as they were in mid-May this year, with the exception of the one-year ARM," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac's chief economist. "Last week's Federal Reserve Board policy statement led financial markets to expect that the economy should begin to pick up soon, and that caused bond yields to rise pretty steadily over the last number of days." A year ago, the average 30-year and 15-year fixed rates were 6.57% and 6.03%, respectively, and the average one-year ARM rate was 4.58%, Freddie Mac said. Freddie Mac can be found online at http://www.freddiemac.com.