Long-term mortgage rates keep sneaking up

Interest rates on long-term mortgages continued to edge up. As of Friday, the average interest rate on a fixed-rate 30-year mortgage rose to 5.85% from 5.79% the prior week, according to Freddie Mac's weekly nationwide survey.

For 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, a popular option for refinancing, rates crept up to 5.17% last week from 5.06% the week before.

Even with the increases, rates for 30-year and 15-year mortgages are still sufficiently low to support the housing market, economists said.

For one-year adjustable mortgages, rates were 3.80%, compared with 3.82% the previous week.