WASHINGTON, March 31 (Xinhuanet) -- Rates on 30-year mortgages across the United States rose this week to their highest point in eight months, Freddie Mac reported Thursday.

    In the week ending March 31, rates on 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages averaged 6.04 percent, up from 6.01 percent last week, according to the mortgage company's weekly nationwide survey.

    This was the seventh consecutive weekly increase. The rate of 6.04 percent was the highest since 30-year mortgages averaged 6.21 percent last July.

    Meanwhile, other mortgage rates also registered increases this week. Rates on 15-year, fixed-rate mortgages rose to 5.58 percent from 5.56 percent last week.

    Rates on one-year adjustable-rate mortgages increased to 4.33 percent from 4.24 percent and five-year hybrid adjustable rate mortgages climbed to 5.43 percent from 5.35 percent.

    A year ago, 30-year mortgages averaged 5.52 percent with 15-year mortgages at 4.84 percent and one-year adjustable-rate mortgages at 3.46 percent.

    The increases in mortgage rates are attributed to new worries about inflation. "Financial markets currently are very inflation sensitive, putting upward pressure on mortgage rates," Freddie Mac's chief economist Frank Nothaft said.

    Rates on 30-year mortgages have jumped by nearly one-half percentage point since hitting a low for this year of 5.57 percent in early February.

    But Nothaft predicted future increases will be at a moderate pace. "We don't expect mortgage rates to rise too much or too quickly in the near term," he said. Enditem