Long-term mortgage rates remained just below 7% this week. 

On Thursday, Freddie Mac reported 6.95% as the average on a 30-year mortgage, down one basis point from last week. 

"The 30-year fixed-rate has hovered between 6% and 7% for most of the last two and a half years. That trend continued this week,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s Chief Economist. "Driven by these higher rates and a persistent supply shortage, affordability hurdles still exist for many homebuyers and a significant number of them remain on the sidelines.”