Americans are now dealing with higher mortgage rates than they were at the beginning of the year.

Reporting how this is going to affect the US public, USA Today claims that America's real estate market is potentially losing one of the only things that was keeping it upright as house prices continue to drop across the country.

Greg McBride, senior financial analyst at bankrate.com, had similar thoughts on the matter.

He told the publication that increasing mortgage rates are a blow for citizens, who are already dealing with high gas prices and soaring food costs.

"For months, the only thing the housing market had going for it was that mortgage rates were low," Mr McBride is reported as saying. "With them going up to 6.5 percent, it's like getting kicked when you're down."

Last week, Goodwill Industries' consumer credit counseling service revealed that a number of people in the US are using the short-term borrowing option of pay day loans to help them pay mortgage fees.

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