Mortgage Rates Keep Rising

Mortgage rates kept rising on inflation concerns over the last week, despite the continued downturn of the housing market.

Freddie Mac's(FRE Quote) weekly mortgage survey found that 30-year fixed-mortgage rates climbed to the highest point in nearly nine months, averaging 6.42% with an upfront payment of 0.7 points. That rate is up from 6.32% a week ago, but still lower than the 6.69% rate a year earlier.

The 15-year fixed-mortgage rate reached 6.02% with an average upfront payment of 0.7 points, up from 5.93% a week ago. A year ago, those mortgages had a rate of 6.37%.

Fixed-rate mortgages haven't been this expensive since last fall. ...