30-year mortgage rates edge up, stay below 8%

The average interest rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages rose to 7.90 percent for the week ending Sept. 22, up from 7.88 percent the previous week, according to a survey released Thursday by Freddie Mac, the mortgage company. A year ago, the rate on 30-year mortgages stood at 7.76 percent.

In mid-May, rates on 30-year mortgages hit a five-year high of 8.64 percent.

Fifteen-year mortgages, a popular option for refinancing, dipped to an average 7.57 percent this week from 7.60 percent last week.

A year ago, 15-year mortgages averaged 7.40 percent.

On one-year adjustable-rate mortgages, lenders were asking an average initial rate of 7.27 percent, up from last week's rate of 7.26 percent.

For the same period last year, one-year ARMS averaged 6.19 percent.

The rates do not include add-on fees known as points, which averaged 1 percent of the loan amount for all three types of mortgages.