Key Mortgage Rate Remains at 8-Year High

The 11th District cost of funds--the rate to which many adjustable-rate home mortgage loans are tied--continued climbing in June to 5.357% from 5.196% in May, the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco reported. The rate, which tends to lag changes in market interest rates by several months, has been rising steadily over the last year and now stands at its highest level since April 1992, when it was 5.427%. The rate, which stood at 4.504% in June 1999, measures the average cost of funds for savings institutions in the federal bank system’s 11th District, which includes California, Arizona and Nevada.