The cost of long-term mortgage borrowing has risen slightly in the past week, according to a new report.

Figures compiled by Freddie Mac showed that the average interest rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is now 6.37 percent, compared with 6.35 percent seven days earlier.

The statistics also showed that the average interest rate for a five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage climbed by 0.04 percentage points to 5.82 percent.

Despite these increases and the backdrop of American households struggling to cope with rising food and fuel prices, Freddie Mac's chief economist Frank Nothaft said that more people are trying to borrow money.

"The number of mortgage applications for home purchases over the week ending July 4th was nearly ten percent above the over five-year low set just two weeks prior," he explained, citing statistics compiled by the Mortgage Bankers Association.

A recent study by Realty Trac showed the extent of debt problems faced by many Americans, as it revealed that the number of home foreclosures in June was 53 percent higher than in the corresponding period in 2007.

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