Mortgage Rates Inch Up for Second Week

Mortgage interest rates across the board edged higher this week, marking the second consecutive reporting period that they've increased.

Data released by ""Freddie Mac"":http://www.freddiemac.com Thursday shows that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose 5 basis points in one week's time. Last week it was reported at 4.81 percent. This week it came in at 4.86 percent (0.7 point).
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""Freddie Mac's weekly survey"":http://freddiemac.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=12329&item=31199, which calculates the average rate from data reported by about 125 lenders across the country, showed an identical 5 basis point increase for the 15-year fixed-rate. It rose from 4.04 percent last week to 4.09 percent (0.7 point) this week.

Adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) were also higher in Freddie's study. The 5-year ARM jumped from 3.62 percent to 3.70 percent (0.7 point), while the 1-year ARM increased from 3.21 percent to 3.26 percent (0.6 point).

Although rates have risen for two straight weeks, Freddie Mac's chief economist, Frank Nothaft, stressed that they still remain ""quite low.""

""Low rates have benefited from relatively benign inflation reports,"" Nothaft said. ""Inflation as measured by the 12-month growth in the core price index for consumer spending, a metric preferred by the Federal Reserve, is hovering near the lowest pace since 1960 when this data series began.""