Mortgage rates creeping upward

USA TODAY, June, 2008 by Anna Bahney

As if the real estate slump weren't severe enough -- with prices sinking and foreclosures dumping ever more homes on the market -- another threat has emerged: rising mortgage rates.

Low rates helped fuel the housing boom, and rates had remained relatively low even after the boom ended more than two years ago.

But now, with rates creeping back up, the wobbly real estate market could be losing one of its last pillars of support. Some experts say they worry that rising rates threaten to prolong the housing crisis.

The average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage edged up to 6.45% last week, according to Freddie Mac, compared with 5.48% in January.

"For months, the only thing the housing market had going for it was that mortgage rates were...