U.S. interest rates for home loans rose for a fourth straight week by Jan. 14, as mortgage applications increased 2.3 percent from a week earlier, according to the Market Composite Index (MCI), a measure of mortgage loan application volume. On an unadjusted basis, the MCI increased 3 percent compared with the previous week. Residential real estate borrowing costs are now the highest in nearly two years, as financial markets await the Federal Reserve’s move to quickly raise interest rates sooner than previously expected to combat high inflation. The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) announced on Wednesday that its weekly measure of the average contract rate on a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage climbed to 3.64 percent in the week ending Jan. 14, from 3.52 percent in the previous week. That is the highest rise since the spring of 2020, after the pandemic triggered a recession and drove borrowing costs to historic lows as …