The read
Analysis of Oct 28, 2026, on data through Oct 28, 2026. Charts under each judgment are its evidence; sources are linked in the text.
- Housing is frozen, not crashing. The 30-year mortgage rate is 7.32%, up 1.05 percentage points from a year earlier. Prices are still rising, 2.09% over the year on the Case-Shiller index, but more slowly than inflation, so real prices are falling. Existing-home sales are 3.99 million a year, near their lowest in decades, because owners with low fixed rates do not want to sell.
30-year fixed mortgage rate
Freddie Mac weekly survey, percent.
Source: Freddie Mac.
Readings in this chart
Home price growth
Twelve-month change in the S&P Case-Shiller US national home price index, monthly, not seasonally adjusted.
Source: S&P Dow Jones Indices.
Readings in this chart