Mortgage Rate Rises for a 4th Week

The average interest rate on 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages rose for a fourth consecutive week to 7.10%, the highest level in two months and up from 7.02% last week, mortgage company Freddie Mac said. So far this year, rates have fluctuated between 6.74% at the end of January and 7.11% in mid-March. Fifteen-year mortgages averaged 6.71% this week, up from 6.61%. On one-year, adjustable-rate mortgages, lenders were asking an average initial rate of 5.71%, up from 5.68% the week before. The rates do not include add-on fees known as points, which averaged at or just above 1% of the loan amount for all three types of mortgages.