Longer-Term Mortgage Rates Edge Higher

The average interest rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages rose to 7.19% for the week ending July 6, up from 7.11% last week, Freddie Mac said.

Fifteen-year mortgages, a popular option for refinancing, increased to 6.74% this week, compared with 6.63% the previous week.

At the same time last year, rates for 30-year mortgages averaged 8.16% and rates for 15-year mortgages averaged 7.88%.

On one-year adjustable-rate mortgages, lenders were asking an average initial rate of 5.71%, down from 5.77% the week before. This week’s rate was the lowest since May 13, 1999, when one-year ARMS averaged 5.71%. Last year, one-year ARMs stood at 7.27%.

These rates do not include add-on fees known as points, which averaged about 1% of the loan amount for all three types of mortgages.