
Mortgage Rates Hit 7.30 Percent and Buyers Are Stepping Away
The MBA survey put the 30-year fixed at 7.30 percent for the week ending September 25, the highest since November 2023, and applications fell to their slowest pace since 2025.
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The MBA survey put the 30-year fixed at 7.30 percent for the week ending September 25, the highest since November 2023, and applications fell to their slowest pace since 2025.

Case-Shiller put the national index up 1.9% for the year through July, up from 1.6% in June, but home values fell in real terms for a 14th straight month and the 7.03% mortgage rate from September 24 has not touched this data yet.

Freddie Mac put the 30-year fixed at 7.03% for the week of September 24, the first print above 7% since January 2025, while the Case-Shiller national index gained 1.5% in the year through June and active listings hit 1.14 million in August.

New-home supply thinned to 8.5 months in August while resale supply hit 4.9, a decade high, as builders cut prices on 38 percent of deals and the 30-year fixed hit 7.03 percent.

The 30-year fixed hit 7.03% on September 24, up from 6.30% a year ago. Builder confidence fell to 32 and price cuts are spreading. The fall housing market is being set by the bond market.

Census data put August new-home sales at a 684,000 annual pace, up 6.4 percent from July, and months of supply fell to 8.5 as the resale market's high-rate stall quietly became the builder's advantage.

The 30-year fixed averaged 6.95 percent in the September 17 Freddie Mac survey, a 97 basis point climb from February's 5.98 low, and the median buyer's payment is now $211 a month worse than it was then.

August single-family starts fell 30.3 percent year over year while permits held up, and the near-record-low builder sentiment print of 32 explains it: builders are finishing what they started, not beginning anything new.

Lennar's fiscal third quarter shows incentives averaging 12 percent of the sales price, the clearest filed evidence yet that the sticker price on a new home is no longer the real one.

Mortgage applications fell 4.1% as the 30-year rate hit 6.95%, leaving buyers facing the worst of both worlds: the highest months of supply in over a decade and payments about $237 a month costlier than last year.

The 30-year fixed hit 6.95%, a 2026 high, adding about $144 a month for typical buyers while active listings climb. The week of September 21 in housing.

Census data out September 18 show total starts down 2.6 percent to a 1.275 million annual rate, but single-family starts up 7.6 percent while the apartment category collapsed 21.7 percent as financing costs bite.