Rates on 30-year new purchase mortgages ticked up Thursday, increasing the average to 6.55%. The previous day's average marked the only sub-6.50% rate in the past two weeks. Most other new purchase mortgage rates also rose Thursday.

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.

As of Oct. 18, according to Credible data gathered from more than 500 U.S. lenders*, the median interest rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is 6.63%, which is 0.13 percentage points higher than yesterday. Additionally, the median interest rate on a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage is 5.88%, which is also 0.13 percentage points higher than yesterday.

It’s been a month since the Federal Reserve shifted from fighting inflation with high interest rates to supporting the job market with the first in what is expected to be a series of rate cuts.

The average rate on a 30-year mortgage in the United States rose for the third week in a row, reaching its highest level in eight weeks. The rate rose to 6.44 percent from 6.32 percent last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday.

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.