The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage drifted up for the second consecutive week to 4.60 percent.
The higher rate environment, coupled with the ongoing lack of affordable inventory, has led to a drag on existing-home sales in the last few months. Yesterday, the Federal Reserve passed on raising short-term rates, but with the embers of a strong economy potentially stoking higher inflation, borrowing costs will likely modestly rise in coming months.
Even with home price growth easing slightly in some markets, mortgage rates hovering near a seven-year high will certainly create affordability challenges for some prospective buyers looking to close.

Mortgage rates moved up slightly over the past week to their highest level since late June.
The next few months will be key for gauging the health of the housing market. Existing sales appear to have peaked, sales of newly built homes are slowing and unsold inventory is rising for the first time in three years.

Mortgage rates were once again mostly flat over the past week, inching backward slightly.
Manufacturing output and consumer spending showed improvements, but construction activity was a disappointment. This meant there was no driving force to move mortgage rates in any meaningful way, which has been the theme in the last two months. That’s good news for price sensitive home shoppers, given that this stability in borrowing costs allows them a little extra time to find the right home.