One of the biggest challenges right now is that many people want to wait for interest rates to go down before buying a home. But it’s important to explain why waiting could actually cost them money.
Recently, S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Home Price Index shared home price numbers for December. For all of 2025, home prices only went up 1.3%. That might sound small. But earlier in the year, from March to July, prices went down a little. During that time, interest rates were higher, around 6.75% to 7.125%, so fewer people were buying homes.
On August 22, 2025, Jerome Powell said the Fed would start cutting rates. After that, mortgage rates began to improve. From August to December, home prices started rising again.
If you look at just the last four months (September to December), home prices were rising at a yearly pace of 4.6%. If you look at the last three months (October to December), when rates were even lower, prices were rising at a 5.3% yearly pace.
So, should buyers wait for rates to drop more? Probably not. When rates go down, more people buy homes. That means more competition and higher prices. Buyers may be better off purchasing now and gaining value as prices continue to rise.
Source: MBS Highway
By: Jon Iacono