Mortgage Rates at 5 Year Highs

The New York Times reports:

Mortgage rates are rising because of the troubles at the loan finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, threatening to deal another blow to the faltering housing market.

Even as policy makers rushed to support the two companies, home loan rates approached their highest levels in five years.

The average interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages rose to 6.71 percent on Tuesday, from 6.44 percent on Friday, according to HSH Associates, a publisher of consumer rates. The average rate for so-called jumbo loans, which cannot be sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, was 7.8 percent, the highest since December 2000.

Fed easing hasn't lowered the risk of underwriting a mortgage.