30-Year Mortgage Rates Climb to 7.41%

The average interest rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages hit its highest level in nearly two years. The average rose to 7.41%, the highest since September 1997, according to a weekly survey released by Freddie Mac, the mortgage company. Last week the average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was 7.23%. So far this year, rates have fluctuated between 6.74% at the end of January and the current 7.41%. Fifteen-year mortgages, a popular option for refinancing, averaged 7.04% this week, up from the average of 6.84% last week. On one-year adjustable-rate mortgages, lenders were asking an average initial rate of 5.85%, up from 5.73% the previous week. The rates do not include add-on fees known as points, which averaged around 1% of the loan amount for all three types of mortgages.