After weeks of very little movement, mortgage rates were up slightly this week. The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate rose to 4.25%, according to Bankrate.com. The average 30-year fixed mortgage has an average of 0.31 discount and origination points.

The average 15-year fixed mortgage increased to 3.45%, while the jumbo 30-year fixed mortgage rebounded from last week’s record low to settle at 4.62%. The average 3-year and 5-year adjustable mortgage rates increased for the second week in a row, rising to 3.31% and 3.09%, respectively.

Fixed mortgage rates increased for the first time in the New Year. Even a modest increase, from 4.18% to 4.25% on the 30-year fixed, was enough to reach a two-month high. But the Federal Reserve’s pronouncement about keeping short-term interest rates on hold even longer than expected, until late 2014, is likely to unwind the modest increase of the past week.

Mortgage rates have been remarkably static over much of the past three months, with the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate staying in a range of less than one-tenth of a percentage point.

The last time mortgage rates were above 6% was Nov. 2008. At the time, the average 30-year fixed rate was 6.33%, meaning a $200,000 loan would have carried a monthly payment of $1,241.86. With the average rate now 4.25%, the monthly payment for the same size loan would be $983.88, a difference of $258 per month for anyone refinancing now.

Source: Bankrate.com