REAL ESTATE
<i> Times Staff and Wire Reports</i>
Mortgage Rates Edge Higher: Thirty-year, fixed-rate mortgages averaged 7.55% this week, up from 7.51% last week, according to a national survey by the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. It was the highest since June 1, when the average was 7.71%. The average hit a 25-year low of 6.74% in October, 1993. On one-year, adjustable-rate mortgages, lenders were asking an average initial rate of 5.88%, up from 5.86% last week. Fifteen-year mortgages, a popular option for those refinancing mortgages, averaged 7.03% this week, up from 7% a week earlier. The rates do not include add-on fees known as points.
