Mortgage rates are ticking up even after the Federal Reserve has started cutting interest rates. Here's why, and where rates — and home sales — could go from here.

Generally, higher rates reflect the strength in the economy, which helps support the housing market. But as mortgage rates rise, they can also add hundreds of dollars a month in costs for borrowers, reducing home shoppers’ purchasing power as they navigate a housing market with prices near all-time highs.

The average rate on a 30-year mortgage in the U.S. moved higher for the third week in a row and reached the highest level since late August

Mortgage rates rose to the highest level in nearly two months. The average rate on a standard 30-year fixed mortgage rose to 6.44%, according to a survey of lenders released Thursday by the mortgage-finance company Freddie Mac.

Mortgage rates are influenced by several factors, including how the bond market reacts to the Federal Reserve’s interest rate policy decisions. That can move the trajectory of t