Mortgage Rates Inch Up After 20-Month Low

Mortgage interest rates rose slightly this week after sinking to the lowest level in 20 months a week earlier. The average rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 7.24% from 7.21%, which was the lowest since February 1996, according to the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. Mortgage rates have been keying off the U.S. Treasury securities market, where rates plunged in late October as investors worried by Southeast Asian financial turmoil snapped up bonds. Thirty-year mortgage rates hit a peak for the year so far of 8.18% in early April. Fifteen-year mortgages, a popular option for refinancing, averaged 6.80% this week, up from 6.76%. On one-year adjustable-rate mortgages, lenders were asking an average initial rate of 5.48%, up from 5.46%. The rates do not include add-on fees known as points.