Everyone seems to agree that mortgage rates above 7% are the new "normal."

The phrase keeps popping up lately in public comments from housing economists, including Lawrence Yun , chief economist for the National Association of Realtors, and Robert Dietz , chief economist for the National Association of Home Builders.

It's a sentiment increasingly reflected in forecasts, too, with major housing groups predicting mortgage rates will remain above 7% well into 2027. Fannie Mae forecasts mortgage rates could average 7.5% in 2027, while the Mortgage Bankers Association expects them to remain above 7% .

That means the 3% or 4% mortgage rates borrowers were used to in the years before 2022 are unlikely to return anytime soon.

"We could definitely see some movement up and down depending on data, but we're just not in the same economic environment we were in during the 2010s or the pandemic," says Jenna Stauffer, a broker and market analyst with Sotheby's International Realty.

Why mortgage rates could stay higher…