Mortgage rates rise on consumer report

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Mortgage rates climbed for the third week in a row on the news of a jump in consumer spending in November, a survey showed Thursday.

The 30-year fixed mortgage rate averaged 6.18 percent in the week ended Dec. 28, up from 6.13 percent in the prior week, according to Freddie Mac's (Charts) Primary Mortgage Market Survey.

Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 6.22 percent.

"Financial markets were concerned that stronger spending could keep inflation elevated," Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist, said in a statement.

"These worries were further compounded by the releases of new and existing home sales for the same month, which both exceeded market forecasts and caused Treasury bond yields to continue to rise."

The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5.93 percent, up from 5.89 percent last week. A year ago, it averaged 5.76 percent.

Rates for five-year, adjustable-rate mortgages came in at 5.98 percent this week, up from 5.96 percent last week. A year ago, the five-year ARM averaged 5.79 percent.

One-year ARMs averaged 5.47 percent, up from 5.44 percent last week. At this time last year, the one-year ARM averaged 5.15 percent.

"On a positive note, both new and existing home inventories in November fell from recent highs suggesting the excess supply of homes on the market may be normalizing towards historical trends," Nothaft said.

"The lower mortgage rates in November and early December are giving the housing market a bit of relief at year's end, but we expect to see continued volatility in housing market data even if mortgage rates stabilize, due to uncertain weather patterns that can impact the underlying figures one way or the other."

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