Rates Rise 10bps

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate rose to 6.05% for the week ending Oct. 17 from 5.95% the previous week, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey.The average 15-year fixed mortgage rate rose from 5.26% to 5.36%, and the average rate for one-year Treasury-indexed adjustable-rate mortgages climbed from 3.69% to 3.79%. Fees and points averaged 0.5 points for fixed-rate mortgages and 0.6 points for ARMs. "Bond yields have been creeping up on an almost daily basis since the beginning of October, pushing mortgage rates up as they go," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac's chief economist. "Inflation remains low, however, and we expect that to continue into 2004 and beyond. And as long as it does, we won't see mortgage rates rising very dramatically." A year ago, the average 30-year and 15-year fixed rates were 6.15% and 5.56%, respectively, and the average one-year ARM rate was 4.27%, Freddie Mac said. Freddie Mac can be found online at http://www.freddiemac.com.