LOS ANGELES — The cost of buying a home took another leap this week, as the average rate on the popular 30-year fixed-rate mortgage surpassed 7% for the first time since 2002.
It was just last month that rates climbed above 6% for the first time in 14 years. The latest dramatic jump makes a home purchase even more unaffordable and stands to further slow a market already reeling from the rising borrowing costs.
"It's crazy," said Tressa Pope, a Los Angeles-area mortgage broker. "Rates rose so rapidly that people weren't prepared."
