Mortgage Rates Inch Up From 22-Month Low

The average rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages this week was 7.17%, up from 7.15%, Freddie Mac, the mortgage company, said. Mortgage rates have been keying off the U.S. Treasury securities market, where investors fleeing Asian turmoil have been snapping up bonds. Last week’s rate was the lowest since Feb. 15, 1996. 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 6.72% this week, up from 6.71%. On one-year adjustable-rate mortgages, lenders were asking an average initial rate of 5.52%, up from 5.50%. The rates do not include add-on fees known as points.