‘DESTABILIZING’

Mortgage Rates Hit Highest Level in 20 Years

The average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage rose to 7.08 percent this week.

The average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage, the most popular mortgage for American home buyers, climbed from 6.94 percent to 7.08 percent this week, its highest level since mid-2002, according to data released Thursday by Freddie Mac. The Federal Reserve has increased its federal funds rate, or policy rate, five times since March to fight inflation and rein in the economy. That has quickly trickled down into changes to mortgage rates, putting the housing market on edge and prompting fears that the Fed is going too hard, too fast. “People can say, ‘Well, you know, a percent [added] on the mortgage rate is still low.’ But we’ve had several percents on the mortgage rate in a short period of time,” KPMG chief economist Diane Swonk said, according to The Washington Post. “The rapid pace at which they’re raising rates are, in and of themselves, destabilizing.”