A brief rate retreat pushes US pending home sales to a six-week peak
Analysts attributed the move partly to progress in US-Iran negotiations, which temporarily settled financial markets and brought the median monthly housing payment down to $2,598. That affordability window, however, proved fleeting.
The 10-year Treasury yields, a key driver of 30-year fixed mortgage rates, ticked sharply higher on Wednesday morning after President Trump declared the ceasefire “over” amid a fresh wave of military strikes.
That influential yield had climbed by more than five basis points, inching above 4.58%, while oil prices also jumped as hopes of a prolonged truce crumbled.
Mortgage application volume held essentially flat in the week ending June 26, inching up just 0.04% on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey.https://t.co/h4K8lX93Kl
— Mortgage Professional America Magazine (@MPAMagazineUS) July 3, 2026
Buyers find footing, but hurdles remain
Metro-level data revealed the kind of divergence that has defined the 2026 housing market. Austin, Texas, and West Palm Beach, Florida, led the nation in pending sales growth, posting year-over-year gains of 17% and 16.6%, respectively.
Houston sat at the opposite end of the spectrum, falling 12.2%, the steepest annual decline among tracked metros.
