The average rate on a 30-year mortgage in the U.S. ticked up this week to slightly above 7%, the highest level in eight months.

The rate rose to 7.04% from 6.93% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. A year ago, it averaged 6.6%. It has risen for five straight weeks.

Borrowing costs on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, popular with homeowners seeking to refinance their home borrowing to a lower rate, also rose this week. The average rate increased to 6.27% from 6.14% last week. A year ago, it averaged 5.76%, Freddie Mac said.

The uptick in the expense of home loans reflects a rise in the debt safety yields that lenders use as a navigator to worth mortgages, specifically the profit on the U.S. 10-year Treasury. The profit on the 10-year Treasury has climbed from 3.62% in mid-September to 4.61% as of midday Thursday.

The elevated mortgage rates, which can add hundreds of dollars a month in costs for borrowers, have discouraged home shoppers, prolonging a national home sales slump that began in 2022.

While sales of previously occupied U.S. homes rose in November for the second straight month, the housing trade was on track to complete 2024 as its worst year for sales since 1995. packed-year home sales data are due out next week.

The average rate on a 30-year mortgage is now the highest it’s been since May 9, when it was at 7.09%.

earnings rates have been climbing since the Federal savings signaled last month that it expects to raise its standard rate just twice this year, down from the four cuts it approximate in September.

The Fed is tapping the brakes on rate cuts because expense boost remains stubbornly above the central financial institution’s 2% target, even though it’s fallen from its mid-2022 peak. Economists also worry that President-elect Donald Trump’s economic policies, notably his schedule to vastly boost tariffs on imports, could fuel expense boost.