30-Year, 15-Year mortgage rates rise

WASHINGTON - Rates on 30-year and 15-year mortgages rose for the fourth week in a row amid signs that the country is recovering from a recession. <br> <br> Freddie Mac, the mortgage company, reported that the average interest rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages rose to 7.18 percent, up from 7.14 percent the previous week, according to a nationwide survey released Thursday. A year ago this time, 30-year mortgages averaged 6.91 percent. <br> <br> Rates on 30-year mortgages hit a low of 6.45 percent in early November, their lowest point since Freddie Mac began conducting its nationwide survey in 1971. <br> <br> Even though rates have moved higher since that time, analysts believe that mortgage rates will be fairly stable this year and will continue to support the housing market. Some economists predict that 30-year rates will go as high as 7.5 percent by the end of this year. That would prevent some people from buying a home, but for many it would would still be affordable, analysts said. <br> <br> Fifteen-year mortgages, a popular option for refinancing, went up to 6.69 percent, up from 6.65 percent the previous week. A year ago, 15-year mortgages averaged 6.46 percent. <br> <br> On one-year adjustable-rate mortgages, lenders were asking an average initial rate of 5.11 percent, unchanged from the previous week. Last year this time, one-year ARMs averaged 6.19 percent. <br> <br> These rates do not include add-on fees known as points, which averaged around 0.7 percent of the loan amount for all three types of mortgages last week. <br> <br> ``Interest rates for fixed-rate mortgages edged up this week, as the market tired to decipher new releases of economic indicators and how strong the economy will be in the first three months of the year,&#39;&#39; said Robert Van Order, Freddie Mac&#39;s chief international economist. <br> <br>

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