Mortgages Climb to Highest Level in 14 months

Up: That was the clear direction of mortgage rates yet again this week.

The benchmark 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose to 4.1%, compared with 3.99% last week, according to the Bankrate.com national survey of large lenders. The mortgages in this week's survey had an average total of 0.3 discount and origination points.

Five weeks ago, the 30-year fixed averaged 3.52%. It has risen five weeks in a row. One year ago, that rate stood at 3.92%. Four weeks ago, it was 3.6%-- meaning that the rate has risen exactly half a percentage point in a month.

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The last time the 30-year fixed was this high was April 18, 2012, when it averaged 4.1% in Bankrate's survey, the same rate as this week. It had averaged 4.11% the week before that.

The benchmark 15-year fixed-rate mortgage rose to 3.28% this week, compared with 3.21% last week. That's the highest it has been since April 25, 2012. The benchmark 5/1 adjustable-rate mortgage rose to 2.93% from 2.81%. That's its highest level since Aug. 15. The benchmark 30-year fixed-rate jumbo mortgage rose to 4.27% from 4.2%. The jumbo is at its highest level since Sept. 19.