US 30-, 15-year mortgage rates up slightly in week

Average interest rates on U.S. 30- and 15-year fixed rate mortgages continued their monthlong climb in the latest week, according to a survey released by mortgage finance company Freddie Mac (FRE.N: Quote, Profile, Research) onThursday.

U.S. 30-year mortgages averaged 6.28 percent in the week, up from 6.24 percent last week, while 15-year mortgages averaged 5.91 percent, compared with 5.83 percent a week ago. This is the highest level for 30-year mortgages since December 15, when they averaged 6.30 percent.

One-year adjustable rate mortgages (ARM) averaged 5.36 percent in the week, up from 5.34 percent a week earlier.

A year ago, 30-year mortgages averaged 5.62 percent, 15-year mortgages 5.14 percent and the one-year ARM 4.15 percent.

Housing is still strong, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said while testifying on the central bank's semiannual monetary policy report before Congress on Thursday.

The Commerce Department's report on housing starts earlier that morning seemed to confirm his assessment, with construction on new homes soaring in January to the highest level in 33 years.

"Housing start figures in January came in at the highest level in over three decades, due in part to the combination of low rates and a warmer climate across the country," Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist, said in a statement.

On Wednesday, the Mortgage Bankers Association said that Americans filed the fewest loan applications to buy homes in more than two years in the week ending Feb. 10, dropping by 7.9 percent from the week before.

Lenders charged an average of 0.5 percent in fees and points on 30- and 15-year mortgages, both down from 0.6 percent last week. They charged 0.7 percent on the one-year ARM, up from 0.5 percent.

The hybrid "5/1" ARM, set at a fixed rate for five years, then adjustable each year following, averaged 5.95 percent, up from 5.89 percent last week, and also up from 5.05 percent a year earlier, Freddie Mac said.

Freddie Mac is a mortgage finance company chartered by Congress that buys mortgages from lenders and packages them into securities to sell to investors or to hold in its own portfolio.

What are people saying about mortgages today:

Rates on 30-year mortgages edged down last week to a seven-month low. Mortgage-giant Freddie Mac reported Thursday that 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages fell to 6.3 percent, down slightly from 6.31 percent two weeks ago. It put rates at the lowest level since they were at 6.24 percent the first week of March.

Bank of Hawaii, Central Pacific Bank, Territorial Savings Bank and Wells Fargo Home Mortgages all cut their 30-year mortgage rates to 5.75 percent this week.

Most people think of a mortgage as a means to an end. After all, you buy a house, not a home loan. But a mortgage is much more than the path to homeownership. It is a financial instrument that must be managed, just like any other financial investment.