After remaining below 4% for several years, mortgage rates began rising in 2022 and have remained uncomfortably high -- in the 6% to 7% range -- for several years. That's created multiple problems for the ailing U.S. housing market. It's made a home purchase unaffordable for many Americans. It has also caused many homeowners to avoid selling their homes out of fear that they wouldn't be able to replicate the low rate they've enjoyed for years -- essentially locking them, and the wider housing market, in p ...