US mortgage rates edge higher

U.S. fixed mortgage rates rose for the first time in six weeks after hitting a seven-month low amid a slowdown in the housing recovery, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday.
The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) edged up to 4.14 percent in the week ending Thursday from a seven-month low of 4.12 percent in the previous week, the U.S. mortgage giant said in its Primary Mortgage Market Survey.
The 15-year FRM, a popular guide for those looking to refinance, rose slightly to 3.23 percent from 3.21 percent in the prior week, which was the lowest level since late October, the survey showed.
"Mortgage rates were little changed amid a week of light economic reports. Of the few releases, real GDP was revised down to -1.0 percent growth in the first quarter of 2014," said Freddie Mac's chief economist Frank Nothaft in a statement.
That was the first contraction since the first quarter of 2011. Many economists expected the U.S. economic growth to bounce back in the second quarter after the brutally cold weather ended.
But the slowdown in the housing recovery has become a fresh concern, as sharp increases in home prices and limited inventories, as well as higher mortgage rates have discouraged many home buyers.