moodboard/Getty Images(NEW YORK) Sky-high mortgage rates have helped slam the brakes on the housing market, recent data shows.
Mortgage rates climbed to their highest levels in 21 years, Freddie Mac data showed last week. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 7.09% over the week ending on Thursday, after sustaining levels above 6.5% since May.
The home resale market, meanwhile, slowed in July to its lowest rate since 2010,National Association of Realtors data showed on Tuesday.
A shortage of supply has kept housing prices elevated, stunting home purchases as prospective buyers stand crunched between twin pressures of expensive borrowing costs and stubbornly high listing prices, analysts said.
The dynamic is unlikely to change markedly in the coming months, since both home prices and mortgage rates are expected to remain at or near current levels, they added.
Contrasting the current market with the low-mortgage rate environment that took hold during the COVID-19 pandemic, Bess
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