Mortgage Rates Rise Slightly This Week

Interest rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages inched up to 8.16% this week, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. said. After hitting a seven-month high of 8.18% on April 3, the 30-year rate dropped to 8.15% last week. This month’s rates have thus been more than half a percentage point higher than the year-to-date low of 7.56% posted Feb. 20. Fifteen-year mortgages averaged 7.71% this week, more than recovering from the drop to 7.67% a week earlier and reaching their highest rate since September. On one-year adjustable-rate mortgages, lenders are asking an average initial rate of 5.89% this week, down from last week’s eight-month high of 5.91%. The rate calculations do not include fees.