Fixed Rates Jump Again

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate jumped to 6.14% for the week ending Aug. 1 from 5.94% the previous week, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey.The average 15-year fixed mortgage rate climbed from 5.27% to 5.44%, and the average rate for one-year Treasury-indexed adjustable-rate mortgages inched up from 3.67% to 3.68%. Fees and points averaged 0.5 points for all three mortgage categories. "Total home sales rose slightly in June from the previous month to an annualized pace that was almost 7% above all of 2002's record pace," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac's chief economist. ".... Signs that the economy may have turned the corner led to slightly higher mortgage rates, and this will surely begin to slow the pace of refinancing as we go into the last quarter of the year." A year ago, the average 30-year and 15-year fixed rates were 6.43% and 5.84%, respectively, and the average one-year ARM rate was 4.45%, Freddie Mac said. Freddie Mac can be found online at http://www.freddiemac.com.