Mortgages edge up; 30-year rate 6.34 percent

WASHINGTON — Rates on 30-year mortgages, after dropping to their lowest point in four months, edged up this week.

Freddie Mac, the mortgage company, reported Thursday that 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages averaged 6.34 percent this week, up slightly from last week’s 6.31 percent, which had been the lowest level since May 17. This week’s 6.34 percent rate is the second-lowest since mid-May.

All mortgage products surveyed by Freddie Mac showed slight increases this week even though the Federal Reserve on Tuesday announced a bigger-than-expected half-point cut in the federal funds rate, the first reduction in this key interest rate in more than four years.

Frank Nothaft, chief economist at Freddie Mac, said the tiny increases still left rates at levels not seen since May.

“The recent retreat in mortgage rates has brought in an increased volume of mortgage applications … and pushed the share of applications for refinancing to the highest rate since April,” Nothaft said.

Rates on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, a popular choice for refinancing, averaged 5.98 percent this week, basically unchanged from 5.97 percent last week.

Rates on five-year adjustable rate mortgages averaged 6.21 percent, up from 6.17 percent, while one-year ARMs averaged 5.65 percent, essentially unchanged from 5.66 percent last week.

A year ago, 30-year mortgages stood at 6.40 percent, 15-year mortgages were at 6.06 percent, five-year ARMS averaged 6.08 percent and one-year ARMs were at 5.54 percent.

After a five-year boom, sales of both new and existing homes fell sharply last year. The slump has gotten worse this year as lenders have tightened standards amid soaring foreclosures.