Real estate rates gain for third week

Mortgage rates rose for the third consecutive week as positive economic news continued, according to surveys conducted by Freddie Mac and Bankrate.com. In Freddie Mac's survey, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5.73 percent for the week ended today, up from last week when it averaged 5.66 percent. The average for the 15-year fixed-rate mortgage this week is 5.32 percent, up from last week when it averaged 5.25 percent. Points on both the 30- and 15-year averaged 0.4. The five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage averaged 5.26 percent this week, with an average 0.5 point, up from last week when it averaged 5.15 percent. The one-year Treasury-indexed ARM averaged 4.42 percent this week, with an average 0.6 point, up from last week when it averaged 4.39 percent. The last time the one-year ARM was higher was the week ended Aug. 2, 2002, when it averaged 4.45 percent. "As the one-year ARM reaches its highest interest-rate level in almost three years, it...