08/11/2026
I was looking at mortgage rates from the same week in August over the last few years and this stood out to me.
2023: 6.90%
2024: 6.73%
2025: 6.63%
2026: roughly 6.75%
For all the talk about rates over the last few years, they really haven’t moved much.
And I think that matters because a lot of people are still looking at the current market like it’s something they just need to “wait out.”
Maybe rates improve from here. They probably will at some point.
But we’ve now been in basically the same range for four years.
Meanwhile, people who have been waiting since 2023 haven’t just been waiting on a rate.
Home prices have changed.
Rents have gone up.
People have had kids, changed jobs, relocated, gotten married, needed more space, moved closer to family.
Life kept moving.
That doesn’t mean everyone should have bought three years ago, and it definitely doesn’t mean everyone should buy today.
There are plenty of people who SHOULD wait.
But I think there is a difference between waiting because buying doesn’t make sense financially…
and waiting because you’re assuming the market is eventually going to go back to what it looked like in 2020 or 2021.
Those are two very different things.
One other thing that gets overlooked:
Affordability has actually improved some even without a major drop in mortgage rates.
Wages have grown, inventory has improved in a lot of areas, buyers have more negotiating power, and sellers are much more willing to give concessions than they were a few years ago.
So when someone asks me whether they should buy or wait, I’m honestly not that interested in trying to predict where rates are going to be six months from now.
I’d rather look at their situation today.
Does the payment make sense?
Do they plan on being there long enough?
How much cash will they have left after closing?
Is the house actually right for them?
And what exactly are they hoping will be different by waiting?
Because after four years of rates sitting in almost the exact same range, “I’m just waiting for the market to get better” probably needs a little more thought behind it.
Credits: Reid Mckee
