15-, 30-Year Mortgage Rates Rise Slightly

The average interest rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages crept up to 7.69% this week from 7.67% last week, Freddie Mac said. Fifteen-year mortgages averaged 7.31% this week, up slightly from 7.30% last week. On one-year adjustable-rate mortgages, lenders were asking an average initial rate of 6.35%, up from 6.30% last week. The rates do not include fees known as points, which averaged at or just over 1% of the loan amount for all three types of mortgages. In a separate report, the Mortgage Bankers Assn. said that mortgage loan applications for the week ending Nov. 12 decreased 4.9% from the previous week and were down 38.4% from the same period in 1998.