Rates Rise

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate rose from 6.17% to 6.22% for the seven-day period ended April 12, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey.The average 15-year fixed mortgage rate rose from 5.87% to 5.90%, the average rate for five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages climbed from 5.92% to 5.93%, and the average rate for one-year Treasury-indexed ARMs increased from 5.44% to 5.47%, Freddie Mac reported. Fees and points averaged 0.4 of a point for fixed-rate mortgages and 0.5 of a point for ARMs. "Interest rates in general ticked up following the release of the March employment data, which showed stronger job growth than what the market expected," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac's chief economist. "This brought interest rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages back up this week to match the first-quarter average." A year ago, the average 30-year and 15-year fixed rates were 6.49% and 6.14%, respectively, and the average hybrid and one-year ARM rates were 6.13% and 5.61%, Freddie Mac said. Freddie Mac can be found online at http://www.freddiemac.com.