Al Shard
New member
Mortgage rates just hit 6.91%—the highest they’ve been since July—and everyone’s side-eyeing their housing plans. For context, they were 6.62% this time last year, so yeah, it’s getting more expensive to own a piece of the American Dream. Freddie Mac’s Chief Economist basically said, “Affordability is still trash,” though not in those words.
What’s wild is this spike is happening even though the Fed has been cutting rates since September. Turns out, Treasury yields don’t care, especially with all the chatter about inflation and Trump’s policies like tax cuts, tariffs, and other economic curveballs. Mortgage rates tend to follow the 10-year Treasury note, and that’s been doing its own thing.
Meanwhile, home sales have been looking good—November was the best in eight months—but let’s be real: that’s mostly from contracts signed when rates were lower. And with the so-called rate-lock effect, people sitting on sub-5% mortgages aren’t exactly eager to sell and jump into this mess, which means fewer homes on the market. Fewer listings + rising rates = higher prices.
TL;DR: Housing market’s doing a weird little dance between “things are looking up” and “you still can’t afford this.” Classic.
What’s wild is this spike is happening even though the Fed has been cutting rates since September. Turns out, Treasury yields don’t care, especially with all the chatter about inflation and Trump’s policies like tax cuts, tariffs, and other economic curveballs. Mortgage rates tend to follow the 10-year Treasury note, and that’s been doing its own thing.
Meanwhile, home sales have been looking good—November was the best in eight months—but let’s be real: that’s mostly from contracts signed when rates were lower. And with the so-called rate-lock effect, people sitting on sub-5% mortgages aren’t exactly eager to sell and jump into this mess, which means fewer homes on the market. Fewer listings + rising rates = higher prices.
TL;DR: Housing market’s doing a weird little dance between “things are looking up” and “you still can’t afford this.” Classic.