The housing market is suddenly losing one of its biggest drivers

Andy Kiersz/Business Insider Mortgage rates recently surged. From 3.6% on November 11, the average 30-year mortgage rate jumped to almost 4% on November 14. "This is a classic exogenous shock," said Mark Fleming, the chief economist at First American. "We had a rate path, and now there's a new rate path." On Thursday, a report from the Mortgage Bankers Association's showed that purchase and refinancing applications fell to the lowest level since January. The index that measures this activity fel...