Daily Dupaco

Home loan rates continue to rise for the third straight week, to their highest in eight months, depressing loan demand along the way.

The national average for the 30-year, fixed-rate loan leaped from 5.29% last week to 5.59% this week, the highest since the end of November when it was at 5.97%, according to Freddie Mac. The average for the 15-year mortgage also jumped higher, from 4.79% last week to 5.06% this week.

In Iowa, the average for a 30-year, fixed rate loan was 5.72%, according to DataTrac. The average for the 15-year mortgage was 5.2%.

Over the three-weeks ending June 5, interest rates for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages rose nearly one-half of a percentage point, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

As a result, conventional mortgage applications for refinance fell each week, with total mortgage application volume was down 7.2% for the first week of June, compared with the previous week, according to the MBA.