Mortgage rates climbed above 6 percent this week, their highest point since late 2008 and more than double their level a year ago, further squeezing the budgets of would-be home buyers.The average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was 6.02 percent as of Thursday, Freddie Mac reported, up from 5.89 percent the week before. The average rate for an identical loan was 2.86 percent the same week in 2021.“Mortgage rates continued to rise alongside hotter-than-expected inflation numbers this week,” Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist, said in a statement, adding that the rate increase would help cool off the red-hot housing market, but that the number of homes for sale was still inadequate to meet demand. “This indicates that while home price declines will likely continue, they should not be large,” he said.Rates have been on the rise since the start of th …
