Mortgage Rates Inch Above 22-Month Low

Mortgage interest rates rose slightly this week from a 22-month low. The average rate on 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages was 7.03%, up from 6.99% last week, the lowest since February 1996, said Freddie Mac, the mortgage company. Mortgage rates have been keying off the U.S. Treasury securities market, where investors fleeing Asian turmoil have been snapping up bonds. Thirty-year mortgage rates hit a peak for the year of 8.18% in early April, after the Federal Reserve Board last tightened monetary policy. Fifteen-year mortgages, a popular option for refinancing, averaged 6.61% this week, up from 6.57%. Lenders were asking an average initial rate of 5.50% on one-year, adjustable-rate mortgages, down from 5.53%. The rates do not include points.