BANKING & FINANCE - May 5, 1995

Mortgage Rates Rise: Thirty-year, fixed-rate mortgages averaged 8.27% this week, up from 8.26% last week, according to a national survey by the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. It was the highest since April 13, when the average was 8.37%. The average hit a 25-year low of 6.74% in October, 1993 and was 9.22% as recently as Jan. 5. On one-year adjustable rate mortgages, lenders were asking an average initial rate of 6.26%, down from 6.30% last week. Fifteen-year mortgages, a popular option for those refinancing mortgages, averaged 7.80% this week, unchanged from a week earlier. The rates do not include fees known as points.