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Mortgage rates move up
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July 5, 2001: 1:14 p.m. ET
30-year rates creep higher but 1-year ARMs dip to lowest levels in two years
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Mortgage rates rose a week after the Federal Reserve cut interest rates for the sixth time this year.
According to Freddie Mac, the benchmark 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 7.19 percent for the week ending July 6, up from 7.11 percent the previous week. A year ago, the same mortgage averaged 8.16 percent.
The average this week for the 15-year fixed-rate mortgage was 6.74 percent, up from the previous week's average of 6.63 percent. A year ago, the same rate stood at 7.88 percent.
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One-year adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) averaged 5.71 percent, down from last week's average of 5.77 percent. The same mortgage averaged 7.27 percent at this time last year.
"One-year ARM rates fell to their lowest level in more than two years after last Wednesday's interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve," said Freddie Mac chief economist Robert Van Order. "We expect rates to stay in this range for the duration of the summer."
"Although overall economic growth was sluggish in the first half of the year, we expect it to pick up thanks to the rate cuts and the tax rebates that will flow to families by the end of the third quarter," Van Order said.
[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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