Figures from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) said the average rate for a 30-year mortgage has increased to 4.22%.

This was up on the previous week and is the highest level recorded since October 2014.

Rising rates have caused the number of applications to decrease to their lowest level since January. The MBA said applications were down 5.5% week-on-week and remortgage applications were down 6.9% – the worst figures since the start of the year.

The figures cover 75% of all mortgage applications made in the US.

Mike Fratantoni, MBA’s chief economist, said would-be mortgage applicants were being deterred by rising rates in the market.

“Rising rates continue to create volatility in weekly mortgage applications activity,” he said.

“The 10-year Treasury hit 2.5 percent last week and our survey’s 30-year fixed rate of 4.22 percent is at its highest level since October 2014. The refinance index dropped to the lowest level since January 2015 as rates continued to increase.”