Fixed Rates Rise

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate rose to 5.81% for the week ending Dec. 31 from 5.75% the previous week, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey.The average 15-year fixed mortgage rate rose from 5.18% to 5.23%, while the average rate for one-year Treasury-indexed ARMs climbed from 4.17% to 4.19%. Fees and points averaged 0.6 of a point for all three mortgage categories. "The 30-year FRM came in under 6% for the last 22 weeks of this year," said Amy Crews Cutts, Freddie Mac's deputy chief economist. "As a matter of fact, mortgage rates in 2004 averaged around 5.84%, the second-lowest annual rate ever recorded in the history of Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey." A year ago, the average 30-year and 15-year fixed rates were 5.85% and 5.15%, respectively, and the average one-year ARM rate was 3.72%, Freddie Mac said. Freddie Mac can be found online at http://www.freddiemac.com.