VA Raises Mortgage Rates

The Veterans Administration said today it is raising its maximum interest rate for federally backed VA home mortgages from 9.5% to 10%, the second increase in less than a month, effective Monday.

The Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. said today that the average rate for 80%, 30-year conventional mortgages was 10.52% this week, up from 10.47% last week. In the last three years, the VA has lowered its maximum rates 15 times, most recently on Jan. 16. VA mortgage rates peaked at 17.5% in September, 1981.