BANKING & FINANCE - Jan. 7, 1994

Mortgage Rates Rise: The average interest rate on 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages rose to 7.23% this week, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. said. The average was up from 7.13% the previous week but still below 7.31% at the end of November. The average hit a 25-year low of 6.74% in October, but it has been above 7% for the last 10 weeks. On one-year, adjustable-rate mortgages, lenders were asking an average initial rate of 4.23%, up from 4.20% last week. Fifteen-year notes, an increasingly popular option for people refinancing their mortgages, averaged 6.74% this week, up from 6.63% a week earlier. The rates do not include add-on fees known as points.