MARIA MARTIN, CRYSTAL LAKE, ILLINOIS: I'm Maria Martin from Crystal Lake, Illinois, and I'd like to know: Why are the mortgage rates going up?</s>LOU DOBBS, "LOU DOBBS MONEYLINE": The reason long-term, 15 and 30-year mortgage interest rates have been going up recently is because they closely follow the bond market, in particular the 10-year Treasury note. The Federal Reserve has been lowering short-term rates this year, but the market controls long-term rates. And right now, the market is driving those rates higher in anticipation of an economic recovery next year. Also driving those mortgages up: high demand. And that's not encouraging lenders to drop their rates further.
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