Mortgage interest rates rose slightly last week for 30-year fixed rate mortgages and one year adjustable rate mortgages, announced the Mortgage Bankers Association today. But they’re still relatively low.

Yesterday I blogged how falling home values makes buying a home more affordable for first time and younger buyers. Being able to get a mortgage with an interest rate less than 7 percent is also really good. The past few weeks, I’ve been talking with realtors and mortgage professionals around the country. Those who have been in the business a long time shared with me how high interest rates were in the early 1980s, and how it was a big accomplishment to get a mortgage at 15 percent.

Here are the average interest rates according to MBA for the week ending May 22:

  • 30-year fixed rate mortgage: 4.81 percent, up from 4.69 percent the week before
  • 15-year fixed rate mortgage: 4.44 percent, unchanged from week before
  • 1-year ARM: 6.55 percent, up from 6.38 percent the week before

And on a positive note for the housing market, the number of mortgage loan applications increased 28.5 percent from a year earlier.

May 27, 2009