For the third consecutive week, US mortgage rates managed to rise, going beyond 5% and hitting their highest and strongest level during this year, as was revealed by a closely watched mortgage survey, results of which were released on Thursday.

Rate of interest on US 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, which is the nation's most widely used loan, averaged 5.08% for the week which ended on April 01, a substantial rise from the figure of 4.99% recorded for last week. The survey was released by Freddie Mac, which is the No. 2 American mortgage finance company.

The latest figure is also up from the year-ago level of 4.78%, and also the record low of 4.71% which was hit during December of last year. The survey was started by Freddie back in 1971.

A definite upward trend for the remainder of the year with regards to mortgage rates is seen by Stan Humphries, Chief Economist at real estate website Zillow. com who believes that by the time 2010 comes to an end, the rate will hit 6%.

"We are seeing some upward pressure on mortgage rates due both to increasing rates on U. S. Treasury notes and possible effects of the end of the Federal Reserve's intervention in the mortgage-backed security market," he said.

When the Federal Reserve ceased its purchasing of mortgage-related securities, rates were widely expected to jump, and the same happened.