WASHINGTON, Jan. 2 (UPI) -- Interest rates on long-term, fixed-rate mortgages were higher in the week ending Thursday, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. said.
Rates for 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages rose from 4.48 percent to 4.53 percent with an average 0.8 point in the past week.
A year ago, rates for 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages averaged 3.34 percent.
Rates for 15-year, fixed-rate mortgages rose from 3.52 percent to 3.55 percent with an average 0.7 point in the week. A year ago in the same week, 15-year, fixed-rate loans averaged 2.64 percent.
Among the shorter-duration loans, rates for five-year Treasury-indexed, hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 3.05 percent this week with an average 0.4 point. Rates a week ago averaged 3 percent. A year ago, they averaged 2.71 percent.
Rates for one-year, Treasury-indexed, adjustable-rate loans averaged 2.56 percent in the week with 0.5 points, unchanged from the previous week.
Last year over the same period, rates for one-year, adjustable-rate loans averaged 2.57 percent.
One point is equal to 1 percent of the amount of the loan and is typically paid up front. It includes a corresponding discount on the loan's long-term interest rates.
Rates rose "on signs of a stronger economic recovery," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac's vice president and chief economist, noting the Conference Board rising consumer confidence index and a 13.6 percent year-over-year gain in home prices in October, as reported recently in the S&P/Case-Shiller monthly home price index.
