Mortgage rates rise again
Freddie Mac reports that rates on 30-year mortgages averaged 6.63% this week, up from 6.26% last week.
| 30 yr fixed mtg | 5.06% |
| 15 yr fixed mtg | 4.64% |
| 30 yr fixed jumbo mtg | 5.91% |
| 5/1 ARM | 4.20% |
| 5/1 jumbo ARM | 4.75% |
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Rates on 30-year mortgages rose for the third consecutive week amid concerns about mounting inflation, the weak housing market and speculation that the Federal Reserve will hike interest rates soon.
Mortgage finance firm Freddie Mac reported Thursday that 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 6.63% this week. That's up from 6.26% last week but still below the 6.69% average a year ago.
Thursday's average marked the eighth week that rates have been above 6%.
"Market concerns about rising inflation, further weakness in the housing market and greater probability that the Federal Reserve will raise short-term rates this year all combined to push mortgage rates higher this week," said Freddie Mac chief economist Frank Nothaft in a statement.
The ongoing downturn in the housing market was highlighted Thursday by a separate report that showed sales of existing homes fell more than expected last month.
The National Association of Realtors reported that sales by homeowners dipped in June to an annual pace of 4.86 million, down 2.6% from May. Analysts were expecting NAR to report a sales pace of 4.95 million, according to estimates compiled by Briefing.com.
The report also showed that the median price of a home sold during the month fell to $215,100, down 6.1% from $229,000 a year earlier, as the housing market continues to work through a glut of inventory.
In response to the nation's housing woes, the House passed sweeping legislation on Wednesday that will offer up to $300 billion in assistance to troubled homeowners and throw government support behind mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae (FNM, Fortune 500) and Freddie Mac (FRE, Fortune 500).
In addition to housing market concerns, rising inflation rates also helped push mortgage rates higher this week.
"Some of the key drivers to these concerns were consumer prices jumping 1.1% in June - the largest increase since September 2005 on a year-over-year basis - coupled with consumer prices growing at a 5% clip - the strongest since February 1991," Nothaft said.
Many analysts think mounting inflation may cause the Federal Reserve to hike interest rates at its September meeting.
Other types of mortgages also showed rate increases this week, according to the Freddie Mac survey.
Rates on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages rose to 6.18%, up from 5.78% last week.
The five-year adjustable-rate mortgage rose to 6.16%, up from 5.80% last week.
The rate on a one-year adjustable-rate mortgage rose to 5.49%, compared to 5.10% last week. 
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