Average Rates for Mortgages Inch Upward

The average interest rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages rose for the first time in six weeks, to 6.77% this week, Freddie Mac said. The increase, from 6.69%, brought the average to its highest level since the start of December. It was the first increase since mid-November. The average reached a 31-year low of 6.49% in early October. It has remained below 7% since mid-June. It peaked for the year at 7.22% in late April. “Although mortgage rates inched up this week, we expect they will remain . . . around 7% for the foreseeable future,” said Robert Van Order, an economist with Freddie Mac. Fifteen-year mortgages, a popular option for refinancing, averaged 6.41% this week, up from 6.35%. On one-year adjustable-rate mortgages, lenders were asking an average initial rate of 5.58%, the highest in four months and up from 5.55%. The rates do not include add-on fees known as points, which averaged at or just higher than 1% of the loan amount for all three types of mortgages.