As the housing market chugs ahead in a modest, but steady recovery, it was expected that eventually, home loans would become more expensive. Simply put, they couldn't remain at historic lows forever.

Now mortgage giant Freddie Mac reports that mortgage interest rates have begun to spike.

CNN Money:

The 30-year loan, which stood at 3.35% as recently as early May, is at its highest level since July 2011.

Rates for 15-year loans, popular with homeowners refinancing their mortgages, jumped 0.46 percentage points to 3.5%.

An extra percentage point will cost homebuyers with 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages $56 more a month for every $100,000 they borrow.

"If sustained, the rate increase will take some of the steam out of the housing market," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics.

The sudden jump in rates is driven by uncertainty over whether the Federal Reserve's economic stimulus program, called quantitative easing, will continue, according to Keith Gumbinger of HSH.com, a mortgage information provider.

"The aftermath of the Fed meeting and Mr. Bernanke's remarks ... about the future of QE continue to roil markets," Gumbinger said.

No one wants to be the odd man out when the music stops and all the chairs are taken. Uncertainty over the effects of the fed not buying treasuries have caused the stock market to quake in fear and now mortgage rates to shoot up.

Can the fed bring the US economy in for a safe landing? A lot of people are beginning to bet against it.