NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Mortgage rates rose for the seventh consecutive week, a mortgage finance firm reported Thursday, with the 30-year reaching a level not seen since September of last year.

For the week ended May 6, the rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 6.12 percent, with an average 0.7 point payable up front, up from the previous week when it averaged 6.01 percent, according to mortgage finance firm Freddie Mac.

Last year at this time, the 30-year averaged 5.62 percent.

The 15-year mortgage rose to 5.47 percent from last week's 5.35 percent, with 0.7 point payable up front. A year ago, it was 4.97 percent.

The one-year adjustable rate mortgage (ARM) averaged 3.76 percent, up from 3.75 percent the previous week, with 0.7 point payable up front. A year earlier it averaged 3.66 percent.

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"A steady drip of good economic news coupled with the Federal Reserve's change of language in their statement this week reinforced market expectations that the Fed may raise rates sooner than expected," said Amy Crews Cutts, Freddie Mac deputy chief economist.

"That expectation carried over into the housing sector causing a rise in mortgage rates for the seventh week in a row."

Freddie Mac's average mortgage rates are based on a survey of 125 lenders nationwide.

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Freddie Mac (FRE: down $0.52 to $58.38, Research, Estimates), or Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp., is a publicly traded company the government established in 1970 to provide a flow of funds to mortgage lenders. It buys mortgages from banks, bundles them and then resells them as mortgage-backed securities.

Its products, and the products of other similar entities, have become popular as an alternative to government-backed bonds, notably with international investors.