Key Mortgage Rate Moves Higher

The 11th District cost of funds--the rate to which many adjustable-rate home mortgage loans are tied--climbed to 4.887% in July from 4.853% in June, the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco reported. The rate is up from early this year but remains below its level of early 1996, when it stood just above 5%. The rate, which tends to lag changes in market interest rates by several months, measures the average cost of funds for mortgage money paid by the thrifts and financial institutions in the bank’s 11th District, which covers California, Arizona and Nevada.