Long-term US mortgage rates blip higher this week

WASHINGTON (AP) — Long-term U.S. mortgage rates rose this week but remain lower than they were a year ago.

Mortgage giant Freddie Mac said Thursday that the rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages rose to 3.94 percent, up from 3.93 percent last week. They stood at 4.30 percent a year ago. The rate on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, popular among homeowners who are refinancing, rose to an average 3.38 percent, highest since March and up from 3.36 percent last week. But it still down from 3.52 percent a year ago.

The Freddie Mac survey was taken before Congress passed a sweeping tax-cut bill, sending other long-term rates higher.