Mortgage rates rise modestly

WASHINGTON, Aug. 27 (UPI) -- Average interest rates for 30-year, fixed-rate U.S. mortgages rose in the week ending Aug. 27, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. said Thursday.

The 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5.14 percent with an average 0.7 points in the week, Freddie Mac said.

A week ago, 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages averaged 5.12 percent.

At 4.58 percent with an average 0.7 points, the 15-year, fixed-rate average also rose from a week ago. In the previous week, 15-year fixed rate loans averaged 4.56 percent.

"Long-term mortgage rates were barely changed this week, remaining historically low, which is helping to sustain a high level of affordability in the home-purchase market," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist.

"Similarly, new home sales rose for the fourth month in a row to 0.4 million, the strongest pace since September 2008," he said. "Moreover, 81 percent of major cities had house prices rise between the first quarter and second quarter of this year, owing in part to seasonality."