Mortgage Rates Inch Higher Again

Average interest rates on U.S. 30-year mortgages continued crawling upward as rates on 15-year mortgages held steady in the past week, according to a survey released by finance company Freddie Mac.

Rising 0.02 percent on average, 30-year mortgages climbed to 6.25 percent from 6.23 percent last week, while rates on 15-year mortgages - a popular choice for home loan refinancing - held steady at 5.98 percent.

At the same time, the average rates on borrowers’ adjustable rate mortgages dipped a bit to 5.49 percent from 5.51 percent the week before.

A year ago, 30-year mortgages averaged 6.12 percent, 15-year mortgages 5.70 percent and the one-year ARM 5.20 percent.

Frank Nothaft, V.P. and chief economist for Freddie Mac, attributed this week’s mixed report to news that leading December economic indicators, a measure of future economic activity published by the Conference Board, heralded steady growth in the future.

He said that next week, the first estimate of fourth-quarter GDP growth, along with other reports, will affect the course of average mortgage rates.

Earlier Thursday, the National Association of Realtors reported that both sales of existing homes and the number of homes available for sale fell in December. Home sales fell 0.8 percent to a 6.22 million unit pace and the national median home price was $222,000, the group said.

Freddie Mac said lenders charged an average of 0.4 percent in points on 30- and 15-year home mortgages, both unchanged from last week. They charged 0.5 percent on the one-year ARM, also the same as last week.

The “5/1″ ARM, set at a fixed rate for five years and then adjustable each following year, crept down to 6.00 percent from 6.04 percent. Total points charged on the hybrid mortgage averaged 0.5 percent, up from last week’s 0.4 percent.