Mortgage purchase demand has held up better than expected during the first half of 2026, even though mortgage rates rose significantly, climbing about 0.76% from their lows earlier in the year. According to Logan Mohtashami from HousingWire, once weather-related distortions are removed, housing demand has actually been relatively stable.
Purchase application activity has remained positive on a year-over-year basis for most of 2026, despite higher mortgage rates. Earlier in the year, rates were much lower, a level Mohtashami believed could support roughly 237,000 additional existing-home sales. However, rates increased due to geopolitical uncertainty, particularly the ongoing Iran conflict.
So far this year we have seen 19 weeks with positive year-over-year purchase application growth with 9 of those weeks with double-digit year-over-year growth. While week-to-week activity has been choppy, year-over-year demand has remained stronger than expected.
Despite rising mortgage rates and geopolitical uncertainty, homebuyer demand has shown surprising strength in 2026. The housing market proves to be resilient, supported by improving affordability, wage growth, and mortgage rates that have remained under 7%.
Source : https://bit.ly/49LeYno
By: Jon Iacono