Rates Rise Modestly

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate rose from 5.71% to 5.74% over the seven-day period ended Sept. 15, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey.The average 15-year fixed mortgage rate increased from 5.30% to 5.32%, the average rate for five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages rose from 5.24% to 5.26%, and the average rate for one-year Treasury-indexed ARMs climbed from 4.45% to 4.46%. Fees and points averaged 0.6 of a point for all four mortgage categories. "Mortgage rates were relatively unchanged this week as the markets wait for the results of the upcoming Federal Reserve policy committee meeting," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac's chief economist. "The core Consumer Price Index released this week came in lower than had been expected, which led the market to believe that the Fed has further room to take a pause in raising rates, and this has kept financial markets fairly quiet this week." A year ago, the average 30-year and 15-year fixed rates were 5.75% and 5.13%, respectively, and the average one-year ARM rate was 4.03%, Freddie Mac said. Freddie Mac can be found online at http://www.freddiemac.com.