NEW YORK (TheStreet) — Mortgage rates continued to sail higher for the fifth consecutive week, according to Freddie Mac, with the most popular mortgages inching further toward 5%.

Traditional 30-year fixed mortgages cost 4.83% on average, for the week ended on Thursday, with a discount of 0.7 point. Though still below year-ago levels, those rates jumped significantly from the previous week’s 4.61% rate and the 4.17% low hit in early November; 30-year fixed rates haven’t been this high in seven months.

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