Rates up; 30-year mortgage at 6.28%

The benchmark 30-year fixed-rate mortgage edged higher in the week ending Thursday to a national average of 6.28%, the highest level this year, Freddie Mac said.

The 30-year hit 6.3% on Dec. 15, then fell back to 6.1% on Jan. 19 before beginning to climb to its current level. A year ago, the 30-year mortgage averaged 5.62%, Freddie Mac said in its weekly rate survey.

The average rate on a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage, a popular refinancing choice, rose to 5.91% from 5.83% a week ago. Last year at this time, the loan averaged 5.14%.

Five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 5.95% this week, up from 5.89%. A year ago, the five-year ARM averaged 5.05%.

One-year, Treasury-indexed ARMs averaged 5.36%, up slightly from 5.34% last week. A year ago the ARM, which has been more sensitive to Federal Reserve rate hikes, was at 4.15%.

The 30-year, 15-year and hybrid ARM required the payment of an average 0.5 point to achieve the rate; the one-year ARM needed 0.7 point. A point is 1% of the loan amount, charged as prepaid interest.

Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac's chief economist, pointed out that fixed-rate mortgages, while moving higher, have not moved all that much.

Thursday's strong housing-starts data can be explained in part by those relatively low mortgage rates, Nothaft said.

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.