From the archive: the Weekly Snapshot for the week of October 13, 2026. Read this week’s Snapshot.
Week of October 13, 2026
Mortgage rates reached their highest point in almost three years. Freddie Mac’s weekly average for a 30-year fixed hit 7.40 percent on October 8, and on the Peninsula and in the Beach Cities home prices had not moved with them.
Mortgage rates just reached their highest point since 2023
Last week mortgage rates reached their highest point in almost three years. Freddie Mac’s weekly average for a 30-year fixed hit 7.40 percent on October 8, up from 6.30 percent a year ago. On $1 million borrowed, that’s about $6,924 a month in principal and interest. A year ago it was $6,190, so roughly $730 more every month.
But I had a client lock in an adjustable rate last week well under that average, so there are ways to get better than “market” pricing. Before you write an offer, it’s worth asking your own lender about one, or call me and I’ll tell you how my client did it.
It definitely looks like rates will remain elevated, and possibly go higher before the year is over. That said, we haven’t seen it affect home prices, yet. And even if prices eventually start to decline, in my opinion it would be a slow and gradual process.
I say all that to say you can’t time the market. You’ve got to do what you’ve got to do, when you’ve got to do it. As long as you have at least a five-year horizon, you should be okay. But you can’t put a price on living life. Just be responsible, is all.
Neil Chhabria, Broker. Figures from Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey, October 8, 2026.
Have a question about this? Neil answers personally.