Rates on 30-year mortgages rise slightly

WASHINGTON — Rates on 30-year mortgages rose slightly this week, reversing last week’s brief decline.

Mortgage giant Freddie Mac reported Thursday that 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages averaged 6.30 percent this week, up from 6.28 percent last week. Last week had been the first decline in rates since early December.

The small rebound this week came as Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke was telling Congress he believed the economy would continue growing at a moderate pace this year and next with inflation pressures continuing to ease.

“Mortgage rates exhibited little change in the past week … as there was little new information that would cause any great change,” said Frank Nothaft, chief economist for Freddie Mac.

Many analysts think that 30-year mortgages will remain in a narrow band between 6.3 percent and 6.5 percent for the rest of this year with the Fed expected to keep interest rates unchanged for much of that time.

The Freddie Mac survey showed that other types of mortgage rates also rose slightly this week.

Rates on 15-year, fixed-rate mortgages, a popular choice for refinancing, edged up to 6.03 percent, compared to 6.02 percent last week.

Five-year adjustable rate mortgages rose to 6.01 percent, up from 5.99 percent last week. One-year ARMs rose to 5.52 percent, up from 5.49 percent last week.