The increase adds another burden for home buyers who were already struggling with rising prices.
U.S. mortgage rates rose to 5 percent for the first time in over a decade, raising the pressure on the housing market and adding another burden to home buyers who were already struggling with rising prices. Since the beginning of the year, interest rates on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage have climbed from about 3 percent to 5 percent, the fastest jump since the 1980s, according to Freddie Mac. The rise has added hundreds of dollars a month to the typical house payment and comes on top of two years of blistering price increases in excess of 30 percent. Such a sudden jump in borrowing costs, in a market where buyers across the nation are already struggling to afford a home, would normally spell doom for home sales and housing prices.
