Mortgage rates across the United States increased this week as financial markets expected the Federal Reserve to boost interest rates further, Freddie Mac reported Thursday.

Rates on 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages rose to 6.63 percent this week from 6.62 percent last week, the mortgage company said in its weekly nationwide survey.

The 6.63-percent rate was a full percentage point above the levels a year ago. Rates on 30-year mortgages had fallen last week after reaching 6.67 percent, the highest level in nearly four years, in the previous week.

Other types of mortgages also went up this week. Rates on 15- year, fixed-rate mortgages, a popular choice for refinancing a home mortgage, climbed to 6.25 percent from 6.23 percent.

Rates on one-year adjustable rate mortgages(ARMs) rose to 5.66 percent from 5.63 percent last week. Rates on five-year ARMs were up to 6.23 percent from 6.20 percent.

A year ago, 30-year mortgages averaged 5.63 percent, 15-year mortgages stood at 5.22 percent while one-year ARMs at 4.25 percent and five-year ARMs at 5.10 percent.

"There has been no drastic movement in mortgage rates and we see nothing on the horizon that would bring about any extreme rise or fall in rates going forward," Freddie Mac's chief economist Frank Nothaft said.

Source: Xinhua