since the start of the year mortgage rates have been trending upwards and according to many experts this trend will likely continue through october so far this year mortgage rates have climbed from about 3 to upwards of 6 greg mcbride chief financial analyst at bankrate explains the fed has doubled the pace of their balance sheet runoff the decision not to reinvest matured securities and that coupled with the fed’s tough love message of more rate hikes has pushed mortgage rates well above the 6 threshold “until inflation shows a material moderation the risk is for further increases in mortgage rates” says mcbride see the best mortgage rates you may get here echoing that sentiment kate wood home expert at nerdwallet says interest rates for 30year fixedrate loans appear to be staying over 6 and products like the 15year fixed and the 5year arms are averaging over 5 “though the federal reserve’s latest rate increase wasn’t as dramatic as some expected that hike plus the two more that will likely occur this year will probably keep mortgage rates elevated” says wood following the recent federal reserve meeting where chair jerome powell made it clear that fighting inflation is the central bank’s first priority the updated projections from members of the fed’s ratesetting committee show that they expect shortterm rates to continue to both climb higher and remain so for longer than previously expected says realtorcom chief economist danielle hale “this will put upward pressure on mortgage rates that could be offset by weaker economic growth which is also anticipated for now it’s smart for buyers to prepare for the possibility of higher mortgage rates especially when considering their home shopping budget” says hale shoppers can ratetest their budgets by trying out the impact of higher rates on their scenarios by using a mortgage calculator see the best mortgage rates you may get here though hale points out that there aren’t any fed meetings in october she says fed speakers are out and about addressing various audiences which will undoubtedly create room for investors to parse what they’re saying for additional policy insights “the next fed meetings in november and december are likely to be eventful with investors and mortgage rates both anticipating further shortterm rate hikes in these meetings there is the potential for surprise in either direction” says hale still mortgage rates have doubled since the beginning of the year according to nadia evangelou director of real estate research at the national association of realtors nar “three factors mainly affect today’s market expectations on inflation economic growth and the fed’s policy inflation and higher interest rates typically move up yields as investors demand a higher return” says evangelou nevertheless concerns about economic growth can put a damper on the pace of mortgage rate increases “as inflation remains stubbornly elevated the federal reserve will continue to raise interest rates in its efforts to curb high inflation the bond market shows signs that there are persistent fears about the economy and thus the 30year fixed mortgage rate will likely be around 61 in october” addss evangelou and jeff tucker senior economist at zillow says rates changing this quickly means buyers can feel frozen as what they can qualify for can change week to week “this is having a chilling effect on both firsttime buyers and moveup buyersellers” says tucker