REAL ESTATE

Mortgage Rates Climb: Thirty-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 7.76% this week, up from 7.63% last week, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. said. It was the highest level since mortgages averaged 7.80% during the week ended Feb. 5, 1993. It was also more than a percentage point above the 25-year low of 6.74% last October. On one-year, adjustable-rate mortgages, lenders were asking an average initial rate of 4.60%, up from 4.51% last week and the highest since rates averaged 4.64% during the week ended June 17. Fifteen-year mortgages, an increasingly popular refinancing option, averaged 7.27% this week, up from 7.15% a week earlier.