Key Mortgage Rate Inches Higher

The 11th District cost of funds--the rate to which many adjustable-rate home mortgage loans are tied--edged up to 4.839% in October from 4.834% in September, the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco reported. The increase was only the second time in the last 12 months that the rate had turned higher. The rate, which tends to lag changes in market interest rates by several months, measures the average cost of funds to thrifts and other financial institutions in the bank’s 11th District, which covers California, Arizona and Nevada.