Mortgage Rates Hit a 3-Month High

The average interest rate on 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages rose for the third consecutive week to a three-month high of 6.93% this week, mortgage company Freddie Mac said. Just five weeks ago, the average had dipped to 6.49%, a 31-year low, as investors scared by global financial turmoil shifted money into the United States. Still, the average has remained below 7% for 22 consecutive weeks. It reached 7.22% in late April, its peak for the year so far. Fifteen-year mortgages, a popular option for refinancing, averaged 6.57%, up from 6.50%. On one-year, adjustable-rate mortgages, lenders were asking an average initial rate of 5.56%, up from 5.48%. The rates do not include add-on fees known as points, which averaged 1% of the loan amount for all three types of mortgages.