Mortgage rates were up again for the week ended August 11 (Freddie Mac) and August 12 (Mortgage Bankers Association.) This is the sixth straight week that Freddie Mac's Weekly Primary Mortgage Market Survey showed an increase in the 30 year fixed rate mortgage.

That product averaged 5.89 percent last week, up from 5.82 percent the previous week but fees and points dropped 0.1 to 0.5. The 15-year fixed increased 9 basis points to 5.47 percent while fees and points remained unchanged at 0.6. The hybrid 5/1 ARM increased from 5.30 percent to 5.40 percent; fees and points for that product were down 0.1 from the previous week - to 0.6 and the 1-year ARM was up 10 basis points to 4.57 with fees and points unchanged at 0.7.

Still, six weeks does not a pattern make - at least not recently. Rates climbed for eight straight weeks in February and March of this year, reaching 6.04 percent before turning tail and dropping for 13 weeks in a row.

MBA's survey reported the average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 5.91 percent from 5.83 percent with points, including the origination fees up from 1.16 to 1.24. The 15-year was up 8 basis points to 5.49 percent with fees increasing 0.16 to 1.29. One-year ARMS increased from 4.78 percent to 4.88 percent and points bumped up 0.01 to 1.00.

Mortgage activity continues to slow. Applications were down 0.9 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from the previous week and down 1.3 percent on an unadjusted basis. The pace was still, however, running 20.8 percent higher than the same week in 2004.

Refinances as a percent of overall activity also continued to decline, down 0.8 percent from the previous week to 40.9 percent. The ARM share of all mortgages was up slightly to 19.7 percent from 28.5 the previous week.