Mortgage Rates Hit 3-Year High At 7.28%
California’s housing market is pulling in two directions this week. Mortgage rates have climbed six straight weeks to 7.28%, the highest level since late 2023, pushing loan applications to their slowest pace in years as buyers retreat to the sidelines. Price trends are just as mixed: Bay Area values kept climbing through the typical fall slowdown, even as California’s statewide annual price growth ranked among the weakest in the nation. Nationally, new-home sales jumped on builder price cuts, but sales in the West slid sharply — a sign that affordability, not demand, remains the market’s defining constraint.
In The News:
Investing.com — US mortgage rates climb to 7.28%, highest since October 2023 (October 1, 2026) — The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 7.28% this week, Freddie Mac reported, up from 7.03% the week prior and the highest reading since October 2023. The 15-year rate rose to 6.60%. Chief economist Sam Khater said the market continues adjusting to rates well above last year’s 6.34% average as elevated Treasury yields keep pressure on home-loan pricing nationwide.
HousingWire — Mortgage applications fall 6% as rates hit highest level in nearly three years (September 30, 2026) — Weekly mortgage applications dropped 6% for the week ending September 25 as the 30-year rate climbed to 7.3%, per the Mortgage Bankers Association. Mortgage rates jumped to their highest level in almost three years, pushing borrowers to the sidelines, said MBA deputy chief economist Joel Kan, adding refinance activity hit its slowest pace since 2025.
Hoodline — California home prices post third-weakest growth in US (September 30, 2026) — California home prices rose just 0.9% over the 12 months through June, the third-weakest annual gain of any state and the smallest increase since 2023. The slowdown contrasts sharply with the state’s historical 6.3% average yearly appreciation since 1975, underscoring how much affordability pressure has cooled the nation’s once-hottest price growth.
NBC Bay Area — Bay Area home prices keep rising despite typical fall slowdown (September 21, 2026) — Zillow data shows home values rose across all nine Bay Area counties in August, with San Francisco up 1.8% and San Mateo County up 0.7%. Coldwell Banker told NBC Bay Area it isn’t seeing the usual autumn pullback, pointing to cash-heavy buyers, partly fueled by the region’s AI boom, keeping competition alive even as rates climb.
Investing.com / Reuters — US new home sales jump to eight-month high in August (September 24, 2026) — New home sales rose 6.4% to a seasonally adjusted 684,000 units in August, beating forecasts, as builders leaned on price cuts; the median price fell 5.8% year over year. Gains were uneven — sales soared in the Midwest and South but plunged 15.2% in the West, a sign rate-strained demand is hitting California and its neighbors hardest.
