Mortgage rates are nearing 7%. One house hunter says he's "despondent."

Thomas Louis and his wife have tried everything to clinch a deal to buy a home: offering above the asking price, waiving inspections, and considering properties that tick some, but not all, of their boxes. Three years and 15 offers later, they're still looking.

This year's sharp rise in mortgage rates, which are now approaching 7%, has only made their search more difficult. Louis, 34, told CBS News he feels "despondent" about the long struggle to find an affordable home.

"It still seems like we're trying to climb out of a hole somebody else is digging," said the Asbury Park, New Jersey, resident, who co-owns a graphic design studio with his wife.

The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rate reached 6.95% on Thursday, according to Freddie Mac, up from 6.76% the previous week and the highest since January 2025. Rates have climbed for 11 consecutive weeks as the Iran war fuels inflation, driving volatility in the bond market and influencing borrowing costs.

The spike in rates has put both sides of the market in a bind. Buyers must contend with higher costs, while sellers find fewer takers, forcing them to cut their asking price or take a home off the market.

Rising mortgage rates make it "harder for folks to be able to afford a house in an already challenging time," Matt Schulz, chief consumer finance analyst at LendingTree, told CBS News. "It's not a great thing for anybody."

Mortgage rates are closely tied to the 10-year Treasury note, which earlier this week hit its highest level since 2007 amid growing investor concerns about inflation, heightened geopolitical tensions and soaring U.S. government debt .

According to Jake Krimmel, senior economist at Realtor.com, in recent years, about 80% of the weekly movement in the cost for a conventional 30-year loan has tracked changes in the 10-year Treasury yield. For most of 2026, the typical "spread" between the 10-year note and a 30-year mortgage has been 2%, he said.

"Mechanically, the Treasury yield is doing the lion's share of the work when it comes to changes in mortgage rates," Krimmel said in an email.

Bond yields climbed ahead of the Federal Reserve's meeting on Wednesday, when the central bank raised interest rates by 0.25 percentage points for the first time in three years.