Fixed-Rate Mortgages Hold Steady

Average interest rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages held steady at 7.53% this week, Freddie Mac said. Rates have moved up and down this year, depending on the degree of nervousness about inflation in financial markets. The average’s peak so far this year was 8.18% during the week ended April 3, after the Federal Reserve Board tightened monetary policy. The low was 7.36% during the week ended July 31. Fifteen-year mortgages averaged 7.07% this week, down from 7.08% a week earlier. On one-year adjustable-rate mortgages, lenders were asking an average initial rate of 5.59% this week, up from 5.58% last week. The rates do not include fees known as points.