Mortgage Rates Hit 2-Year High

The average interest rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages rose to 7.71% this week, the highest level in two years, from 7.63% last week, Freddie Mac said. Mortgage rates have been climbing for the last two months and have fluctuated from their low for this year of 6.74% set at the end of January to their current high. Fifteen-year mortgages, a popular option for refinancing, averaged 7.34% this week, up from an average of 7.28% last week. On one-year adjustable-rate mortgages, lenders were asking an average initial rate of 6.05%, up from 5.93% the previous week. The rates do not include add-on fees known as points, which averaged at or just over 1% of the loan amount for all three types of mortgages.