In a year of limited housing and rising mortgage rates Bond New York real estate agent Lucy Wu takes pride in successes, like helping client Kristie Tse buy her first apartment last spring.

“We ended up closing in a very short amount of time,” Wu said.

The average 30-year rate reached a then-high of 5.7% when Wu showed Tse an apartment in a Cobble Hill high-rise in May, but this year’s mortgage rates – which determine how much interest will homebuyers will pay and consequently how much buyers can afford – rose to over 7% in October.

To put that in perspective, the monthly mortgage payment on home that costs $500,000 would be $2,903 at 5.7%.  At 7% interest, the same home would cost $3,327 per month.

It’s a consequence of the Federal Reserve’s efforts to make it more expensive to borrow money by hiking its short-term lending rate to fight inflation, cooling what had been a scorching hot housing market.

But, mortgage rates have since tracked down and Wu says even though it’s slower, the housing market remains strong.

“Having seen that the interest rates haven’t continued to hike up for the mortgage realm and also the contestant intake that I have every day,” Wu said the market is still competitive.

"I have like two to three new inquiries from buyers looking to be out there.”

According to Freddie Mac, the average 30-year rate is 6.27% during the final week of the year.

Wu says lenders have responded to higher rates with low and adjustable interest rate programs to help buyers get to the closing table, and sellers are also coming around.

“Sellers are a lot more open to hearing the offers if the homes are sitting on the market,” said Wu.  “It’s not a buyers’ market [and] it’s not a sellers’ market, so at some point it’s going to go this way or that way.”

As many prospective buyers and sellers sit it out, inventory remains tight with many watching to see where rates will go next year.