Rates Inch Up

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate rose from 6.23% to 6.24% over the seven-day period ended Feb. 9, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey.The average 15-year fixed mortgage rate rose from 5.81% to 5.83%, the average rate for five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages increased from 5.87% to 5.89%, and the average rate for one-year Treasury-indexed ARMs climbed from 5.33% to 5.34%. Fees and points averaged 0.6 of a point for fixed-rate mortgages and 0.7 of a point for ARMs. "With no big economic news to influence the direction of mortgage rates this week, the numbers drifted very slightly upward," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac's chief economist. "We see this trend continuing through 2006, with the 30-year FRM ending the year at about 6.3% as the housing market eases back from last year's record-setting levels toward a somewhat more normal rate of activity." A year ago, the average 30-year and 15-year fixed rates were 5.57% and 5.10%, respectively, and the average one-year ARM rate was 4.11%, Freddie Mac said. Freddie Mac can be found online at http://www.freddiemac.com.