FILE - In this Wednesday, Sept. 22, 2010, file photo, Secretary of the Treasury, Timothy Geithner testifies before the House Financial Services Committee, about the state of the international Financial system, including international regulatory issues relevant to the implementation of the Dodd-Frank Act, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Geithner said the massive bill would accomplish its primary objective of building more safeguards against the kind of financial collapse that had cost millions of jobs and sent the country into the worst recession since the Great Depression. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
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FILE - In this Wednesday, Sept. 22, 2010, file photo, Secretary of the Treasury, Timothy Geithner testifies before the House Financial Services Committee, about the state of the international Financial system, including international regulatory issues relevant to the implementation of the Dodd-Frank Act, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Geithner said the massive bill would accomplish its primary objective of building more safeguards against the kind of financial collapse that had cost millions of jobs and sent the country into the worst recession since the Great Depression. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
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FILE - In this Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2009, file photo, from left, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) Chair Sheila Bair talk prior to President Barack Obama delivering remarks about the home mortgage crisis, at Dobson High School in Mesa, Ariz. Under Geithner, Treasury fell far short of the administration's goals of helping up to 9 million homeowners at risk of losing homes to foreclosure. Geithner's critics say he rejected suggestions that the programs require mortgage servicers to provide loan modifications. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
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FILE - In this Monday, March 30, 2009, file photo, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, left, followed by Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, arrive in the Grand Foyer of the White House in Washington. The auto support effort was actually begun under the Bush administration but taken over and expanded by Obama and Geithner. Administration officials have said the effort saved more than a million jobs and came at a critical time when the economy was in severe crisis. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds)
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FILE - In this Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2010, file photo, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing on AIG. Geithner and the administration endured some of their heaviest criticism for giving government bailout support outside the banking system to insurance giant American International Group.(AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
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FILE - In this Dec. 16, 2010, file photo Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington before the Congressional Oversight Panel hearing on TARP. President Barack Obama has saluted the outgoing Timothy Geithner as one of the best U.S. Treasury secretaries ever. But while some say Geithner deserves credit for helping steady the banking system and restore investor confidence, his critics believe Geithner's policies consistently favored banking interests over ordinary Americans. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
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FILE - In this Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2012 file photo, an advertisement in the classified section of the Boston Herald newspaper calls attention to possible employment opportunities in Walpole, Mass. Economists forecast that employers added 155,000 jobs in December, according to a survey by FactSet. That would be slightly higher than November's 148,000. The unemployment rate is projected to remain at 7.7 percent. (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File)
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In this Wednesday, Dec. 12 2012 photo a job seeker leaves his contact information with a potential employer during a job fair in New York. More Americans sought unemployment benefits in the last week of 2012, though the winter holidays likely distorted the data for the second straight week. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
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FILE - In this Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2012 file photo, an advertisement in the classified section of the Boston Herald newspaper calls attention to possible employment opportunities in Walpole, Mass. U.S. employers added 155,000 jobs in December, a steady gain that shows hiring held up during the tense negotiations to resolve the fiscal cliff. The solid job growth wasn’t enough to push down the unemployment rate, which remained 7.8 percent last month, the Labor Department said Friday, Jan. 4, 2013. The rate for November was revised up from an initially reported 7.7 percent. (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File)
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Floor traders check their handheld computers at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Wednesday, Dec. 26, 2012. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)
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President Barack Obama walks across the tarmac to board Air Force One at Honolulu Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Wednesday, Dec. 26, 2012, in Honolulu, en route to Washington. With a yearend deadline looming before the economy goes off the so called fiscal cliff, the president is cutting short his traditional Christmas holiday in Hawaii. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
US rate on 30-year mortgage rises to 3.42 pct.
WASHINGTON (
AP) — Average U.S. rates on fixed mortgages rose this week but remained near record lows, keeping home buying more affordable.
Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac says the average rate on the 30-year fixed loan increased to 3.42 percent from 3.38 percent last week. That's still near the 3.31 percent rate reached in November, the lowest in records dating to 1971.
The average on the 15-year fixed mortgage increased to 2.71 percent from 2.66 percent last week. The record low is 2.63 percent.
The rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage averaged 3.66 percent in 2012, the lowest annual average in 65 years.
More affordable mortgages are a key reason the housing market began to come back last year. Many economists predict the housing recovery will strengthen in 2013.
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