This week, US mortgage rates rose above 7%, a 20-year high, and quickly climbed to record levels, almost paralyzing the US housing market.

On Friday, according to media reports, according to data from mortgage giant Freddie MacThe average interest rate on 30-year fixed-rate loans rose to 7.08% this week. A year ago, the interest rate was just over 3%.The last time mortgage rates were so high was when the dotcom bubble burst in 2000.

According to one indicator, the increase in interest rates over the past few weeks has been the fastest since records began for half a century.Loan lenders and real estate agents say the pace has caused turmoil in the housing market.

As a result of aggressive interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve this year, US mortgage rates have soared, home buyers have to pay more for higher interest rates, and monthly mortgage loans have soared.

According to the data from the housing website Realtor.comThe median monthly mortgage for home buyers is $2300, up 80 per cent from a year earlier.A year ago, the median mortgage was $1300.

The negative impact of rising mortgage rates has led to a sharp drop in home sales and a sharp drop in house prices.In September, sales of existing homes fell 24 per cent from a year earlier, while sales of new homes fell 18 per cent. House prices began to fall month by month, with the house price index of S&P/CS20 major cities in the United States falling 1.32% month-on-month in August, the biggest month-on-month decline since March 2009. Price increases are slowing in each of the 20 big cities.

John Hastings, senior loan officer at Intercap Lending in Springs, Colorado, said:

Mortgage applications slowed significantly, and about 1/3 of potential buyers decided to wait for mortgage rates to fall before buying homes.

At the same time, more and more home buyers are using adjustable interest rate loans, but the decline in the number of home buyers has made the U. S. housing market less dynamic.