Mortgage Rates Rise Across the Board

Rates on 30-year mortgages increased for the fourth time in the past five weeks.

The mortgage company Freddie Mac reported Thursday that rates on 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages averaged 6.13 percent this week, up from 6.03 percent last week.

The rates dropped below 6 percent in the second week of January and stayed there for six weeks as the economic slowdown stirred concerns about a possible recession.

However, in the past month, bond markets have grown worried about inflation pressures as the economy slows. Bond investors are always on the watch for signs of increasing inflation because higher inflation erodes the value of their fixed-rate bonds.

Even with the increase over the past month, housing analysts said mortgage rates remain at low enough levels to help the housing industry emerge from its biggest slump in more than two decades.

Frank E. Nothaft, chief economist for Freddie Mac, said the combination of reasonable mortgage rates and falling home prices is making homes more affordable. However, other analysts said they did not expect housing to stabilize until the huge backlog of unsold homes is reduced to a more manageable level.

All categories of mortgages showed rate increases this week.

Rates on 15-year, fixed-rate mortgages, a popular choice for refinancing, rose to 5.60 percent this week from 5.47 percent.

For five-year, adjustable-rate mortgages, the average rate rose to 5.58 percent from 5.34 percent. And rates on one-year, adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 5.14 percent, up from 4.94 percent.

The mortgage rates do not include add-on fees known as points. For 30-year and 15-year mortgages, the nationwide average fee was 0.5 point, while five-year mortgages carried a 0.6-point average fee and one-year mortgages had a 0.7-point average.

A year ago, rates on 30-year mortgages stood at 6.14 percent, 15-year mortgage rates averaged 5.88 percent, five-year, adjustable-rate mortgages were at 5.90 percent, and one-year, adjustable-rate mortgages were at 5.42 percent.

Housing has been suffering through a severe slump that has dragged down home prices in many parts of the country. The fallout is hitting both homeowners and the economy at large, raising worries about a possible recession. The downturn in housing is being worsened by a severe credit squeeze as lenders tighten standards in the face of soaring mortgage foreclosures.

Home foreclosures, which shot up to a record high in the final quarter of last year, are expected to keep rising even with industry and government efforts under way to help people at risk of losing their homes.

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