Mortgage rates are back above 7%. How much higher could they climb?

Rates are "far more likely to go up than down by the end of the year," a senior economist at Realtor.com told CBS News. House hunters are facing a fresh affordability crunch as mortgage rates hit 7% this week, marking their highest level in almost two years. The coming weeks aren't likely to offer any relief, with some experts telling CBS News that borrowing costs could continue to rise. Rates are "far more likely to go up than down by the end of the year or in the next month or two," Jake Krimmel, senior economist at Realtor.com, told CBS News. Data from Freddie Mac released on Thursday shows that the average rate on a conventional 30-year mortgage has risen to 7.03%, the highest since January 2025.

Mortgage rates have increased by more than a full percentage point since the end of February, when they briefly dipped below 6%. The roughly 1 percentage-point increase in the rate since then translates into an additional $276 per month in cost for a borrower financing a $400,000 home loan at the current average rate. Separate data from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) this week puts the rate on a 30-year home loan even higher, at 7.12% "Higher inflation, the prospect of tighter monetary policy, potentially stronger economic growth and ballooning federal debt have