Rising interest rates push us mortgage payments up

The rate of a 30-year fixed mortgage is now at 4.46 per cent, the highest since September 2013, a rise of almost 20 per cent in just one week, Freddie Max reports this week.

As a result, notes MarketWatch, mortgagepayments for a median-priced home hav risen roughly $23. Combined with rising house prices in recent months, mortgage payments will be edging up even higher.

$23 may not break the bank, but rising mortgage costs have seen affordability of US property decline, knocking demand for homeownership. Indeed sales have fallen or remained steady on a month-on-month basis this autumn, according to the National Association of Realtors, as values continue to climb.