The current median interest rate is 6.99% for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage and 6.25% for a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage

Mortgage rates on a 30-year home loan have fluctuated throughout the year, reaching a peak of 7.22 percent in May. In late September, the average rate dipped to 6.08 percent, the lowest level in two years, after the Federal Reserve cut interest rates. But mortgage rates have since crept higher until this week.

Long-term mortgage costs have risen since the Federal Reserve started cutting interest rates in September as the yield curve has steepened.