MORTGAGE RATES UP SLIGHTLY to 4.23 pct. !

Interest rates for fixed mortgages rose for a second straight week while adjustable loans remained at or below record lows, Freddie Mac's latest weekly mortgage survey shows.
Despite the increases, rates still are at their lowest level in four decades.
This week's increases in fixed-rate loans were tiny, with interest just barely above record lows set two weeks ago. The rate for a one-year adjustable-rate loan (ARM) was unchanged from last week's record low, while the rate for a five-year ARM set yet another record this week.
According to the latest survey, this week's average mortgage rates were:
    * Thirty-year fixed rate mortgages: 4.23% with 0.8 of a point (or 0.8% of the loan balance) paid up front. That's  up just 0.04 of a percentage point from a record low of 4.19% set two weeks ago. The increase amounts to less than $1,700 in added interest costs on a $200,000 loan.
    * Fifteen-year fixed rate mortgages: 3.66% with 0.7 of a point paid up front, up 0.04 of a percentage point from the record low of 3.62% set two weeks ago. That amounts to an increase of just over $700 in added interest costs on a $200,000 loan.
    * Five-year ARM: 3.41% with 0.6 of a point paid up front. That's the 19th time this year that the rate for this type of loan fell to a record low in data going back to 2005.
    * One-year ARM: 3.30% with 0.7 of a point paid up front. That's unchanged from last week, when the average rate fell to a low in records dating back to 1984.
Mortgage rates fell steadily since April amid economic uncertainty that drove investors to seek the security of U.S. Treasuries, which influence home loan rates.
The Association Press reported also that investors have been buying up Treasury bonds in anticipation of the Federal Reserve's likely move to buy Treasurys to stimulate the economy.
Freddie Mac Chief Economist Frank Nothaft said in his weekly commentary that while consumer confidence rose slightly this month, the latest S&P Case-Shiller home price index showed home prices down for the first time in months. He noted that while consumer confidence was up slightly, it "still remains at low levels."
"Mixed economic data releases left mortgage rates little changed this week," Nothaft said.