30-Year Mortgage Rate Ticks Up

Rates on 30-year mortgages, after falling steadily for a month, edged up slightly this week but still remained well below the levels of a year ago.

Mortgage giant Freddie Mac reported Thursday that 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages averaged 6.12 percent, up from 6.11 percent last week. Last week's rate had been the lowest this year except for the week of Jan. 19, when the 30-year mortgage dipped to 6.10 percent.

All mortgage rates except the five-year adjustable-rate mortgage showed tiny gains this week, which economists attributed to conflicting signals from the economy.

"Mixed economic reports have kept mortgage rates from making any drastic changes this week," said Frank Nothaft, chief economist at Freddie Mac. He said that the government reported stronger-than-expected job growth and retail sales for November but wage growth and consumer sentiment were both weaker.

The Federal Reserve on Tuesday, at its final meeting of the year, voted as expected to keep interest rates unchanged.

Nothaft predicted that long-term mortgage rates will rise in coming months but at a gradual pace. He said the 30-year mortgage will probably not reach 7 percent, with the moderate rates expected to help foster a rebound in the slumping housing market.

After five years in which sales of both new and existing homes climbed to successive highs, the housing market has cooled considerably this year. Sales have fallen and home builders have been scrambling to cut back on construction to deal with record levels of unsold homes.

Rates on 15-year, fixed-rate mortgages, a popular choice for refinancing, averaged 5.86 percent this week, up from 5.84 percent last week.

For one-year adjustable-rate mortgages, rates edged up to 5.45 percent, compared with 5.43 percent last week.

Five-year adjustable-rate mortgages were unchanged at 5.92 percent, the same as last week.

AWARDS . . . The Washington area chapter of the National Association of the Remodeling Industry recently presented its 2006 Contractor of the Year awards. The winners of the most grand awards were Landis Construction of Washington (residential kitchen $60,001-$100,000; residential exterior $100,000 and over; residential historical renovation; creative solution under $15,000 and innovative technology); DE-design of Washington (residential interior $100,000 and under; residential bath $30,000 to $60,000 and residential bath under $30,000); Kohler Homes of Burke (custom home over $1 million; residential addition over $250,000 and commercial interior), and Michael Nash Custom Kitchens and Homes of Fairfax (residential kitchen under $30,000; residential kitchen $30,000-$60,000 and residential addition under $100,000). Other grand award winners were Kingston Custom Builders, Nash Construction, Danish Builders, Block Builders, Encompass Design Build, Bowers Design Build, Hopkins and Porter Construction, Merrill Contracting and Remodeling, Burch Builders Group, Winn Design, Bielski Design Build and Gallick.

Send realty announcements by e-mail torealestate@washpost.com.