Locator: 48768RATES.
Tag: best time to buy a house
We've had this discussion before.
From ChatGPT today:
- the average mortgage for week ending October 26, 2023: 7.79%.
- this was the most elevated average for 30-year mortgages since around late 2000. Twenty-some years previously.
- the sharp rise was driven by inflation, Federal Reserve rate hikes, and climbing Treasury yields.
From ChatGPT today:
- today, average mortgage rate for new homes:
- the average mortgage for today, July 17, 2025, the 30-year fixed mortgage rate is in the 6.7% to 6.9%.
- this places today's rate slightly below 7% with recent trends showing a modest uptick from the 6.7% level reported last week.
- rates have remained elevated since early 2025, averaging in the 6 - 7% range due to persistent inflation, Fed policy, and Treasury yields.
- affordability is tight, especially for those upgrading from low-rate mortgages -- retirees and downsizers face particularly steep jump in monthly payments.
My prompt to ChatGPT today, after reading the above:
How can you say "persistent inflation" when just a couple years ago, the inflation rate was 9%; inflation is now 2.6% or lower and at 2.6% it's right in the range of inflation for the US in the modern era (since 1950, let's say).
The reply from ChatGPT, after a long "reply," this was the bottom lie:
- you’re right: headline inflation is back to normal (~2.6%).
- but underlying components of inflation (like services and shelter) are still high, so policy remains tight.
- when analysts say “persistent inflation,” they mean specific sectors remain elevated, not that overall inflation is still running hot.
Not exactly sure how tariff rates are affecting housing prices. Just saying.
