NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Mortgage rates drifted higher last week as the housing market wrestled with inflation worries.

The average rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages edged higher to 6.37 percent for the week ending Nov. 17, 2005, from last week's 6.36 percent, a Freddie Mac survey said Thursday.

In the year-ago period, the 30-year mortgage averaged 5.74 percent.

The average rate on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages rose to 5.90 percent, up slightly from last week's 5.89. A year ago, the loan averaged 5.15 percent.

Five-year adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 5.86 percent, compared to 5.81 percent the previous week. There is no data available for a year-to-year comparison because Freddie Mac only began tracking the 5-year loans this year.

One-year adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 5.20 percent, up from 5.12 percent the week before. At this time last year, the one-year loan averaged 4.17 percent.

"Recently released inflation indicators -- the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Producer Price Index (PPI) -- brought down long-term bond yields, flattening out the yield curve," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist.

"Consequently, the difference between the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage and the one-year ARM rate is the narrowest it has been since November of 2001. This will make the one-year ARM product much less attractive to borrowers.

"Nevertheless, it's good to keep in mind that current mortgage rates, overall, are still below the 1990s average of around eight percent for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage and six percent for the one-year ARM."

1- and 5-year adjustable-rate mortgages have recently been attractive to potential buyers because they were at historic lows and much lower than fixed-rate products.

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