BANKING & FINANCE - Nov. 12, 1993

Fixed-Rate Mortgages Up Slightly: Interest rates on 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages rose to 7.12% this week from 7.11% a week ago, according to the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. It was the third consecutive increase after the average hit a 25-year low of 6.74% last month, and it marks the second week in a row that the average has been higher than 7%, after 10 weeks below that mark. On one-year, adjustable-rate mortgages, lenders were asking an average initial rate of 4.28%, up from 4.17% a week earlier. The increasingly popular 15-year mortgages averaged 6.64%, down from 6.65% a week earlier.