30-Year, 15-Year Mortgages Head Higher

The average interest rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages rose to 7.14% from 7.04% last week, Freddie Mac said. Fifteen-year mortgages, a popular option for refinancing, ticked up to 6.66% from 6.55%. For this week in April 2000, 30-year mortgages averaged 8.16% and 15-year mortgages averaged 7.82%. In mid-May of last year, 30-year mortgages hit a five-year high of 8.64%. On one-year adjustable-rate mortgages, lenders were asking an average initial rate of 6.08%, compared with 6.15% the week before. This week’s one-year rate was the lowest since they averaged 5.99% for the week ending July 30, 1999. Last year, one-year ARMs averaged 6.76%. 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.