Mortgage rates are rising

Mortgage rates inched up this week as investors were warned that the United States may slide into recession in 2013 if Congress doesn't get its act together.

30 year fixed rate mortgage – 3 month trend

The benchmark 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose to 3.91 percent from 3.86 percent, according to the Bankrate.com national survey of large lenders. The mortgages in this week's survey had an average total of 0.45 discount and origination points. One year ago, the mortgage index stood at 4.41 percent; four weeks ago, it was 3.75 percent.
The benchmark 15-year fixed-rate mortgage rose to 3.12 percent from 3.05 percent. The benchmark 5/1 adjustable-rate mortgage fell to 2.9 from 2.93 percent.
Rates jumped off record lows about a month ago and have been rising since then. The recent spikes serve as a reminder to borrowers that the low rates won't last forever.

Weekly national mortgage survey

Results of Bankrate.com's Aug. 22, 2012, weekly national survey of large lenders and the effect on monthly payments for a $165,000 loan:

	30-year fixed	15-year fixed	5-year ARM
This week's rate:	3.91%	3.12%	2.9%
Change from last week:	+0.05	+0.07	-0.03
Monthly payment:	$779.20	$1,149.01	$686.78
Change from last week:	+$4.72	+$5.58	-$2.65

Overall, rates have increased about a quarter of a percentage point in recent weeks.