Mortgage rates rises up to 4.40 percent

WASHINGTON — Long-term U.S. mortgage rates crept higher last week, upping the costs of borrowing to purchase a home just as more of the millennial generation is entering the real estate market.

Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday that the average rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages rose to 4.40 percent this week, a slight gain from 4.38 percent last week. That average is the highest since April 2014 and the seventh straight weekly increase.

The rate on 15-year, fixed-rate loans rose to 3.85 percent from 3.84 percent last week.