WASHINGTON - Rates on 30-year mortgages rose for a second straight week, edging up above 7 percent, according to a nationwide survey released Thursday. <br>
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Freddie Mac, the mortgage company, reported that the average interest rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages rose to 7.02 percent, up from 6.96 percent the previous week. <br>
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The back-to-back weekly increases followed four consecutive weekly declines that had pushed 30-year mortgages below 7 percent for the first time since early December. <br>
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Rates on 30-year mortgages hit a low of 6.45 percent in early November, their lowest point since Freddie Mac began conducting its nationwide survey in 1971. <br>
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While rates have moved higher since then, analysts believe that rates this year will be fairly stable, remaining close to the record lows set last year. <br>
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Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac's chief economist, said that the low mortgage rates had helped give the housing industry strong sales in spite of the recession, pushing home-ownership to a record 67.8 percent of the population last year. <br>
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"Last year, mortgage rates were low and stable," he said. "And this year, forecasts are for much the same." <br>
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While the Federal Reserve on Wednesday signaled an apparent end to its yearlong effort to push the short-term rates it controls lower, analysts believe that the economic recovery will start at such a slow pace that interest rates will remain low for months to come. <br>
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Fifteen-year mortgages, a popular option for refinancing, rose to 6.51 percent this week from 6.44 percent the week before. <br>
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On one-year adjustable-rate mortgages, lenders were asking an average initial rate of 5.12 percent, up slightly from 5.10 percent the previous week. <br>
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These rates do not include add-on fees known as points, which averaged around 0.7 percent of the loan amount for all three types of mortgages last week. <br>
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