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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Friday, December 22, 2006

Mortgage rates edge back up again

 •  Hawai'i Real Estate Report

By Jeannine Aversa
Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Rates on 30-year mortgages, after sinking for a month, crept up for the second week in a row.

Nevertheless, 30-year mortgage rates are still lower than they were for the corresponding week a year ago.

Mortgage giant Freddie Mac reported yesterday that 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages averaged 6.13 percent this week. That was up slightly from 6.12 percent last week but was down from 6.26 percent a year ago.

Rates on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, a popular choice for refinancing, rose to 5.89 percent this week, from 5.86 percent last week.

For five-year adjustable mortgages, rates also went up, rising to 5.96 percent this week, compared with 5.92 percent last week.

However, rates on one-year adjustable-rate mortgages edged down to 5.44 percent this week, from 5.45 percent last week.

The mortgage rates do not include add-on fees known as points. Thirty-year and 15-year mortgages each carried a nationwide average fee of 0.4 point. Five-year adjustables had an average fee of 0.5 point, while one-year ARMs carried a fee of 0.6 point.

A year ago, rates on 15-year mortgages stood at 5.79 percent, five-year ARMs averaged 5.82 percent and one-year ARMs were at 5.22 percent.