BANKING & FINANCE - May 21, 1993

Mortgage Rate Highest in Six Weeks: Thirty-year, fixed-rate mortgages averaged 7.52% this week, up from 7.42% last week, according to a national survey by the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. The rate was the highest in six weeks and the increase was the largest in nine. Rates had fallen for most of this year, hitting a 21-year low of 7.38% during the week ended April 22. On one-year adjustable-rate mortgages, lenders were asking an average initial rate of 4.64%, up from 4.63% last week, which was the lowest since the corporation began tracking ARMs in 1984. The rates do not include add-on fees known as points.