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.

Mortgage rates topped 7% this week, a key psychological threshold, in a sign of the US housing market’s unrelenting affordability challenges.

The Fed is tapping the brakes on interest rate cuts because inflation remains stubbornly high. That's pushed mortgage rates higher.