Novel Dunia

Mortgage rates jumped this week to their highest levels since February.

The average 30-year fixed-rate leapt 21 basis points, to 5.45 percent. A basis point is one-hundredth of a percentage point. Rates are now at their highest level since Feb. 2.

This week's average 15-year fixed-rate -- a popular option for refinancing -- jumped 12 basis points, to 4.86 percent.

The average jumbo 30-year fixed soared 23 basis points, to 6.6 percent.

Adjustable-rate mortgages were split. The one-year adjustable-rate mortgage rose 9 basis points, to 5.03 percent. The popular 5/1 ARM dipped 2 basis points, to 4.94 percent.

Mortgage application activity dropped sharply for the week ending May 22.

Activity plunged a seasonally adjusted 14.2 percent for the week when compared with a week earlier, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Refinancing activity tumbled 18.9 percent, while applications for new purchase eked out a 1 percent gain.

In other mortgage news, U.S. home prices fell by a record 19.1 percent during the first quarter of 2009 when compared with a year earlier, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller National Home Price Index.

The hardest-hit cities year-over-year included Phoenix (down 36 percent), Las Vegas (down 31.2 percent) and San Francisco (down 30.1 percent).

S&P/Case-Shiller also reported that home prices in its 20-city composite index slipped 2.2 percent during March when compared with February.

Minneapolis registered a whopping 6.1 percent decline in March, the biggest monthly decline in the history of the indexes. Detroit (down 4.9 percent) and New York (down 2.5 percent) also recorded big declines.

Finally, existing home sales rose 2.9 percent to an annual rate of 4.68 million in April, according to the National Association of Realtors.