The higher rates are prompting the housing market to drastically slow: Pending home sales fell 24% last month compared to last year, and existing-home sales were down 20% annually in August.

“The uncertainty and volatility in financial markets is heavily impacting mortgage rates,” says Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. He adds that home shoppers would be wise to shop around.

“Our survey indicates that the range of weekly rate quotes for the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage has more than doubled over the last year,” he notes. “This means that for the typical mortgage amount, a borrower who locked-in at the higher end of the range would pay several hundred dollars more than a borrower who locked-in at the lower end of the range. The large dispersion in rates means it has become even more important for home buyers to shop around with different lenders.”

Freddie Mac reports the following national averages with mortgage rates for the week ending Sept. 29:

*30-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 6.70%, with an average 0.9 point, rising from last week’s 6.29% average. Last year at this time, they averaged 3.01%.

*15-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 5.96%, with an average 1.3 point, increasing from last week’s 5.44% average. A year ago, they averaged 2.28%.

Source: Freddie Mac