Key Mortgage Interest Rate Keeps Climbing

The 11th District cost of funds--the interest rate to which many adjustable-rate home mortgage loans are tied--rose to 4.773% in November from 4.666% in October, the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco reported. It was the rate’s fourth straight monthly increase. The rate, which tends to lag changes in market interest rates by several months, stood at 4.691% a year earlier and dipped to as low as 4.480% in May before climbing again. The rate measures the average cost of funds for the thrifts and other financial institutions in the bank’s 11th District, which includes California, Arizona and Nevada.