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Mortgage rates inch higher
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May 31, 2001: 3:38 p.m. ET
Long-term fixed rates continue to rise as U.S. housing sector remains weak
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Mortgage rates continued to move higher in the latest week even though new and existing home sales fell in April.
According to Freddie Mac's Mortgage Market Survey, the benchmark 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 7.24 percent for the week ending June 1, up from last week's average of 7.20 percent. A year ago, the same mortgage averaged 8.54 percent.
The average this week for a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage was 6.78 percent, up from the previous week's average of 6.76 percent. A year ago, the same rate stood at 8.24 percent.
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One-year adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) averaged 5.89 percent, rising from last week's average of 5.82 percent. The same mortgage averaged 7.25 percent at this time last year.
"The economy grew slower than expected in the first three months of the year, which seems to have carried over into the housing market in April," Freddie Mac chief economist Robert Van Order said.
Van Order also said that consumer spending, however, is outpacing personal income, and consumer confidence rebounded in May, which may support continued home sales in the future.
[Click here to see a breakdown of U.S. mortgage rates by region]
Freddie Mac (FRE: Research, Estimates), or Federal Home Mortgage Corp., is a publicly traded company the government established in 1970 to provide a flow of funds to mortgage lenders.
It buys mortgages from banks, bundles them and then resells them as mortgage-backed securities. Its products, and the products of other similar entities, have become increasingly popular as an alternative to government-backed bonds, particularly with international investors. 
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