The quick rise in mortgage rates over the last few weeks is taking a pause. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5.7% this week, dropping from last week’s 5.81%, according to Freddie Mac. Still, rates remain well above where they were a year ago, when they averaged below 3%. Higher rates have been sending shock waves through the housing market, potentially adding hundreds of dollars to monthly mortgage payments and spooking interested home buyers.

Mortgage rates inched closer to 6% this week. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5.81%, up modestly from 5.78% last week, according to Freddie Mac. Borrowing costs are mounting higher and higher for potential home buyers, who now find themselves squeezed both financially and by low inventory.

Freddie Mac reports the following national averages for mortgage rates for the week ending June 23:

*30-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 5.81% with an average 0.8 point, up from last week’s 5.78%. A year ago, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.02%.

Home sales are falling from their pandemic-fueled highs as home buyers tighten up their budgets. “Home sales have essentially returned to the levels seen in 2019—prior to the pandemic—after two years of gangbuster performance,” says Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of REALTORS®.

Mortgage rates have climbed to their highest level since 2008, pinching home buyers’ budgets. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5.78% this week, way above its 2.93% average just one year ago, Freddie Mac reports. The Federal Reserve’s decision Wednesday to raise its key benchmark rate by the highest amount in 28 years sent shock waves through financial markets, including adding further pressure on mortgage rates.

The median age of a home in the U.S. is 39 years old. The aging housing stock signals a growing remodeling market ahead, according to a new report from the National Association of Home Builders.

As homes age, they need repairs or updated components such as appliances. Homeowners may add amenities to older homes as well, to have them better compete against more modern home styles and amenities.

Increased economic activity and incoming inflation data were behind the most recent rate increases this week, says Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “The housing market is incredibly rate sensitive, so as mortgage rates increase suddenly, demand again is pulling back,” he says. “The material decline in purchase activity combined with the rising supply of homes for sale will cause a deceleration in price growth to more normal levels, providing some relief for buyers still interested in purchasing a home.”

With rising home prices, the “bank of mom and dad” has been helping many adult children purchase their first home. More parents reportedly are helping their young adult children buy, whether by co-signing on a mortgage, gifting them money for a down payment, or even buying the property outright for them, Bloomberg reports.