US 30-yr mortgage rate jumps above 5 pct-Freddie Mac

NEW YORK Dec 24 (Reuters) - U.S. mortgage rates rose for a third consecutive week, a closely watched mortgage survey showed Thursday, piercing a key 5-percent level that may deter home loan demand and hinder the housing market's recovery.

Low mortgage rates and high affordability have helped the housing market find some footing after a three-year slump.

Interest rates on U.S. 30-year fixed-rate mortgages, the most widely used loan, averaged 5.05 percent for the week ended Dec. 24, up from the previous week's 4.94 percent, according to a survey released by Freddie Mac FRE.P FRE.N, the second-largest U.S. mortgage finance company.

Three weeks earlier the rate was at 4.71 percent, the lowest since Freddie Mac started the survey in 1971.

The Mortgage Bankers Association on Wednesday said U.S. mortgage applications fell last week. For details, double-click on [ID:nNYS007641]

"Although interest rates for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages are above 5 percent this week for the first time since the end of October, they are still around 0.5 percentage points below this year's peak set in mid-June," Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist, said in a statement.

Mortgage rates are linked to yields on Treasuries and yields on mortgage-backed securities.

Freddie Mac said the 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.45 percent in the latest week, up from 4.38 percent the prior week. For rates table, double-click on [ID:nWEQ003700]

One-year adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs), were 4.38 percent in the latest week, up from 4.34 percent the prior week. The rate on the "5/1" ARM, set at a fixed rate for five years and adjustable each following year, was 4.40 percent, compared with 4.37 percent a week earlier.

A year ago, 15-year mortgages averaged 4.91 percent, the one-year ARM 4.95 percent and the 5/1 ARM 5.49 percent. (Editing by Padraic Cassidy) (Reuters Messaging: julie.haviv.reuters.com@reuters.net; email: julie.haviv@thomsonreuters.com; Tel: +1 646 223 6153))