Mortgage rates rise for first time in four weeks

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Mortgage rates rose for the first time in four weeks, Freddie Mac reported Thursday.

The government-sponsored loan buyer said the average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate loan gained to 6.62 percent for the week ending August 16, 2007 - from 6.59 percent last week.

Last year at this time, 30-year mortgage rates averaged 6.52 percent.

Freddie Mac said the gain was similar to movements in the 10-year Treasury rate, and that the subprime market was not having an effect on prime rates.

"Interest rates on prime conforming fixed-rate mortgages ticked up a little in the past week, in line with 10-year Treasury rates movements and retracing part of last week's decline," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac's (Charts, Fortune 500) chief economist, in a statement. "Problems in the non-prime mortgage market where funds are expensive and hard-to-get have not affected the prime conforming market."

In its latest report, Freddie Mac said that rates on 15-year fixed-rate loans averaged 6.30 percent in the latest week, up from 6.25 percent last week. A year ago, the 15-year rate averaged 6.20 percent.

Five-year adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) averaged 6.35 percent this week, up from 6.33 percent last week.

A year ago, the 5-year ARM averaged 6.18 percent.

One-year ARMs averaged 5.67 percent this week, up from 5.65 percent last week - the same level they were at this time last year.