The average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage this week was 5.2 percent, up from 5.14 percent a week earlier, mortgage company Freddie Mac said Thursday.
Rates on 30-year mortgages fell to a record low of 4.78 percent earlier this year, but then rose to nearly 5.6 percent last month after yields on long-term government debt, which are closely tied to mortgage rates, climbed.
Though the troubled U.S. housing market is beginning to stabilize, higher rates could threaten or slow down any recovery, because prospective buyers would be able to borrow less money and might decide to hold off on their purchases.
Sales of previously occupied homes rose for the third month in a row in June, the National Association of Realtors reported Thursday. That hasn't happened since early 2004, during the boom.
"The worst may be behind us," Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac's chief economist, said in a statement.
Freddie Mac collects mortgage rates on Monday through Wednesday of each week from lenders around the country. Rates often fluctuate significantly, even within a given day.
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