debt across not only the property development sector but across households and other industries and so forth is quite high. same thing with local government and one of the long term issues of the economy is to deleverage andreduce some of the weight in the economy. mortgage rates in the united states have hit their highest level in 21 years. on thursday the average interest rate on a fixed 30 year mortgage went up above 7%. a year ago it was around 5%. rising mortgage rates have seriously disrupted the us housing market and a mark a long term shift in one of the biggest underlying forces in the us economy. michelle fleury has the latest from new york. for the past year economists have been fretting about the end of the low rate economy in the united states and it is in housing,