Mortgage costs are rising - with the average rate on a two-year fixed deal now at 5.5% - despite a recent cut in interest rates. A string of lenders, including Barclays, HSBC, NatWest and Nationwide, have increased the rates charged on new fixed deals in recent days.

Assuming a 3.5% down payment and excluding tax and insurance, the typical payment at today’s 6.78% mortgage rate on a median-priced $424,950 home is roughly $2,668 per month. Last week, a median-priced home at a 6.79% mortgage rate would have cost homebuyers $2,671 per month—$3 more than what buyers would pay today.

Mortgage rates aren’t directly tied to the federal funds rate like savings and CDs. Instead, they’re tied to the 10-year Treasury yield, which is at its highest level in three months.

These are today's mortgage and refinance rates. If the Fed ends up keeping rates steady next month, we could see mortgage rates tick up slightly.

Mortgage rates ticked down from 6.79% last week to 6.78% for a 30-year fixed home loan for the week ending Nov. 14, according to Freddie Mac. "After a six-week climb, rates have leveled off, but overall affordability continues to be an issue for potential homebuyers,

Mortgage rates remain stubbornly high. In late September, it was looking like mortgage rates would drop below 6% before the end of the year. But then that downward streak ended, l

Market-based rates such as mortgages tend to move in anticipation of future Fed policy — not the policy at the moment when the cuts happen.

Freddie Mac reports the 30-year fixed mortgage rate averaged 6.78% for the week ending Nov. 14 — down from 6.79% last week.