Job gains hike mortgage rates

Mortgage rates crept higher this week on news of good job growth in August, according to a survey conducted by mortgage buyer Freddie Mac.

In Freddie Mac's weekly survey, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5.83 percent for the week ended today, up from last week when it averaged 5.77 percent. The average for the 15-year fixed-rate mortgage this week is 5.22 percent, also up from last week when it averaged 5.15 percent. Points on both the 30- and 15-year averaged 0.8.

One-year Treasury-indexed adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 4 percent this week, with an average 0.7 point, up from last week when it averaged 3.97 percent.

"August's 144,000-job gain, combined with a 41,000 upward revision for July, signaled a strengthening economy and helped push mortgage rates up slightly this week," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist. "However, Fed Chairman Greenspan's testimony to Congress yesterday outlined a less robust economy than he previously had portrayed, offsetting some of the interest-rate increase.

"Freddie Mac's own economic forecast calls for a mild and gradual increase in 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rates to about 6 percent by the end of the year. Low mortgage rates will sustain a brisk housing market, leading to record home sales and single-family construction this year."

The following is a sampling of Bankrate's average 30-year-mortgage interest rates this week in some U.S. metropolitan areas.

New York – 5.85 percent with 0.25 point

Los Angeles – 5.86 percent with 0.57 point

Chicago – 5.95 percent with 0.03 point

San Francisco – 5.85 percent with 0.37 point

Philadelphia – 5.84 percent with 0.25 point

Detroit – 5.81 percent with 0.25 point

Boston – 5.94 percent with 0.05 point

Houston – 5.77 percent with 0.72 point

Dallas – 5.82 percent with 0.46 point

Washington, D.C. – 5.78 percent with 0.57 point

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