Week 13 Monday

MORTGAGE RATES

Freddie Mac’s latest weekly survey shows the average 30-year fixed mortgage at 6.22% for the week ending March 19, up from 6.11% a week earlier. Mortgage News Daily’s most recent daily reading, last updated Friday, March 20, put the 30-year fixed at 6.53%, up from 6.43% on March 19 and 6.29% on March 17. MBA’s latest weekly survey said total mortgage applications fell 10.9% week over week.

What to tell clients: Rates moved higher this week, and that likely cooled some buyer urgency. The big message today is that affordability is still the main pressure point, even though rates remain below year-ago levels in both Freddie Mac’s and MND’s series.

HOUSING INVENTORY- ARE THERE MORE HOMES FOR SALE

Yes, but the recovery is still uneven. Realtor.com’s latest monthly report says active listings in February 2026 were up 7.9% year over year to about 914,860 homes. New listings rose 2.4%, the typical home spent 70 days on market (4 days longer than a year ago), and 15.5% of listings had a price cut. Realtor.com’s weekly update through March 7 says the same pattern is holding: prices are down, inventory is up modestly, and time on market is longer, making for a more buyer-friendly spring.

What to tell clients: Buyers have more options than last year, but not a flood of inventory. Sellers can still win, though overpricing is getting punished faster.

HOUSING PRICE TRENDS - ARE PRICES RISING OR FALLING?

Nationally, prices look more stable than strong. Zillow’s March 2026 forecast projects home values to rise just 0.7% by year-end, while existing-home sales are expected to increase 4.4% in 2026. Realtor.com’s February data showed the national median list price at $403,450, down 2.1% year over year, with the sharpest softness in parts of the South and West.

What to tell clients: The national story is “flat to slightly up,” not “prices are crashing.” Pricing is becoming much more local, so agents need neighborhood-level comps, not national headlines alone.

REAL ESTATE INDUSTRY NEWS

The biggest industry conversation is still listing control and private listings. This week, Compass dismissed its antitrust lawsuit against Zillow over Zillow’s Listing Access Standards after Zillow clarified parts of the policy. At the same time, Compass, Rocket, and Redfin publicly urged MLSs to preserve seller choice around premarketing and private-listing options, which means the broader fight over listing transparency is far from over. Housingwire

What to tell clients: Agents are navigating a market where inventory strategy matters almost as much as pricing strategy. Expect more consumer questions about where listings appear, how soon they appear, and whether “private” marketing helps or hurts sellers.

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

The latest inflation data showed CPI up 2.4% year over year in February, with core CPI up 2.5% and monthly CPI up 0.3%. The February jobs report showed total nonfarm payrolls down 92,000 and unemployment at 4.4%. On rates, the Fed said on March 18 that economic activity has been expanding at a solid pace, job gains have remained low, and inflation is still somewhat elevated. For housing supply, the latest available Census construction release is still January 2026 because the February and March housing-starts releases were postponed to April 29; January starts were running at a 1.487 million annual pace, up 7.2% month over month, while single-family starts fell 2.8%.

What to tell clients: Inflation is cooler than it was, but still sticky enough to keep rates from falling fast. Softer job growth and mixed construction data point to a housing market that is stabilizing, not roaring back.

QUICK SCRIPT FOR SOCIAL VIDEO

“Rates moved higher this week, inventory is improving but still uneven, and home prices nationally look more stable than surging. Buyers have more room to negotiate than they did a year ago, while sellers need to price sharply and market strategically.”