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Mortgage rates end five-week slide
Purchase applications hit record high last week; rates edged higher, but still considered low.
May 12, 2005: 11:17 AM EDT
Mortgage Rates
30 yr fixed 3.80%
15 yr fixed 3.20%
5/1 ARM 3.84%
30 yr refi 3.82%
15 yr refi 3.20%

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Rates provided by Bankrate.com.

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Long- and short-term mortgage rose last week, snapping a string of five straight declines, Freddie Mac said Thursday, adding that purchase applications hit a record high last week.

The average rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages edged up to 5.77 percent this week, with an average 0.5 point payable up front, from 5.75 percent last week, Freddie Mac said.

Last year at this time, the rate on the 30-year fixed-rate loan stood at 6.34 percent.

The 15-year mortgage rate averaged 5.33 percent, with an average 0.6 point payable up front, up from 5.31 percent the week before. The loan averaged 5.72 percent a year ago.

"According to the Mortgage Bankers Association, purchase applications hit a record high last week, and this can be directly attributed to continuing low mortgage rates," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist.

"The bond market isn't exactly sure how fast or slow the economy will expand in the long term and thus bond yields have remained remarkable low. Hence, we expect mortgage rates to remain relatively low for the time being," added Nothaft

Five-year adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) averaged 5.21 percent, with an average 0.6 point payable up front, up from 5.16 percent the week before. There is no data available for a year-to-year comparisons since Freddie Mac only began tracking the 5-year loans this year.

One-year adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs) averaged 4.23 percent, with an average 0.6 point payable up front, a shade above 4.22 percent last week. At this time last year, the one-year ARM rate averaged 3.90 percent.

Freddie Mac's (Research) average mortgage rates are based on a survey of 125 lenders nationwide.

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