Rates Rise

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate rose to 5.83% for the week ending Sept. 10 from 5.77% the previous week, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey.The average 15-year fixed mortgage rate rose from 5.15% to 5.22%, while the average rate for one-year Treasury-indexed ARMs climbed from 3.97% to 4.00%. Fees and points averaged 0.8 of a point for fixed-rate mortgages and 0.7 of a point for ARMs. "August's 144,000-job gain, combined with a 41,000 upward revision for July, signaled a strengthening economy and helped push mortgage rates up slightly this week," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac's chief economist. "However, Fed Chairman Greenspan's testimony to Congress [Sept. 8] outlined a less robust economy than he previously had portrayed, offsetting some of the interest rate increase." A year ago, the average 30-year and 15-year fixed rates were 6.44% and 5.77%, respectively, and the average one-year ARM rate was 3.98%, Freddie Mac said.