For the first time in three weeks mortgage rates have increased.

The rate for 30-year fixed U.S. home loans rose to 5.05 percent for the week ended today from 4.93 percent, mortgage finance company Freddie Mac said in a statement. The average 15- year rate was 4.40 percent, according to the McLean, Virginia- based company.

“This is potentially a preview of the data we’ll have to watch over the next few months,” Donald Rissmiller, chief economist at Strategas Research Partners in New York, said in a telephone interview. “Big changes are on the horizon that are going to be critical for the economy.”

Mortgage rates may rise further when a Federal Reserve program to purchase as much as $1.25 trillion in mortgage-backed securities ends next month. The program is credited with helping reduce mortgage rates, which fell to a record low of 4.71 percent in December.

Bond purchases from Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae, which buy home loans from lenders and package them into securities, brought down yields and allowed lenders to reduce mortgage rates while still selling the bonds at a profit.

Home Sales Slump

Lower mortgage rates and the tax credits weren’t enough to boost new-home sales in January. Sales of new homes in the U.S. fell to the lowest level on record, slumping 11 percent to an annual pace of 309,000, the Commerce Department said yesterday. The median sales price declined 2.4 percent to $203,500 and the supply of unsold homes increased to 9.1 months worth at the current sales rate, the highest since May 2009.

The Mortgage Bankers Association’s index of mortgage applications dropped 8.5 percent in the week ended Feb. 19. The refinancing gauge fell 8.9 percent and the purchase measure declined 7.3 percent.

Source: Bloomberg