Bad news if you’re looking to buy a house in the next two years

America’s housing market has entered a new normal.

Americans looking to purchase a home in the next few years will have a tough pill to swallow. After hitting two-decade highs nearing 8% late last year, mortgage rates have fallen, dipping nearly as low as 6% in September. But rates have steadily crept up ever since. The average rate on a standard, 30-year fixed mortgage was 6.84% this week, Freddie Mac said Thursday, representing the seventh weekly increase over the past eight weeks. Mortgage rates are expected to stay stuck above 6% for at least the next two years, according to economists and recent forecasts. “The new normal will be around 6%,” Lawrence Yun, chief economist at the National Association of Realtors, told reporters on a call Thursday. “We are not going to return to 3%, 4%, or 5% mortgage-rate conditions.” That means Americans hoping to become homeowners won’t be getting any meaningful relief from lower borrowing costs, potentially shutting some folks out of a crucial part of the American Dream. Wells Fargo economists project mortgage rates to average 6.3% by the end of next year, according to updated forecasts released Thursday, staying near that level throughout 2026. Fannie Mae said last week that its “mortgage rate outlook has been revised upward significantly,” projecting mortgage rates to average 6.4% next year, then 6.1% in 2026.