Economists predict mortgage rates will continue to climb this year, just one of the trends that suggest 2017 could be a more challenging year for homebuyers.

Nate Lowenstein has been shopping for a home in Los Angeles, on and off, for more than a year.

His search has been stymied by a stubbornly low roster of homes on the market and the hurdles that come with it: competing bids and higher prices.

“It’s not a great market, from a buyer’s perspective,” said Lowenstein, a lawyer. “The one good thing is that interest rates were quite low.”

As recently as this summer, homebuyers had ultra-low mortgage rates on their side. Good news for any borrower, but especially for those in expensive housing markets like Los Angeles, Boston and Seattle.

But that was then. While mortgage rates remain low by historical standards, they’ve risen sharply over the past couple of months, pushing the average rate on a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage to 4.32 percent this week. That’s the highest level since April 2014 and well above the year’s average of 3.65 percent.

Economists predict mortgage rates will continue to climb, just one of the trends that suggest 2017 could be a challenging year for homebuyers.

“With higher mortgage rates, you’re increasing the cost, challenging the budgets, challenging the ability to qualify and, as a result, likely reducing somewhat the pool of potential buyers,” said Jonathan Smoke, chief economist for Realtor.com.

So far, the rate increases have not begun to worry Lowenstein, who is in the market for a house with at least three bedrooms in L.A.’s affluent west side. His budget: Between $1.6 million and $1.8 million.

“We’re not priced out yet,” Lowenstein said. “But if it goes up to 5 percent or 6 percent, at some point we would be.”

Smoke predicts mortgage rates will reach 4.5 percent in 2017. Other economists expect rates will remain above 4 percent but not go beyond 5 percent next year.