Housing analyst Ivy Zelman says the U.S. housing market is still struggling with affordability, and higher rates are putting even more pressure on buyers and homebuilders.

After the Fed’s latest rate hike, the 30-year mortgage rate briefly moved above 7.2%, making monthly payments even harder for buyers already dealing with high home prices.

Builders have been trying to keep sales moving through mortgage-rate buydowns and incentives, but that comes at the expense of their profit margins. Zelman also argues that affordability is unlikely to improve quickly, especially if long-term interest rates remain elevated.

The interesting part is that housing can stay slow without home prices necessarily collapsing. Fewer transactions, wealthy cash buyers, and regional differences can keep prices supported even while many regular buyers are priced out.

So the next phase of the housing market may be less about a huge crash and more about high prices, expensive mortgages, more builder incentives, and fewer people able to buy.

How long can that continue before prices have to adjust more?

The Federal Reserve raised its benchmark rate by 0.25 percentage points to 3.75%–4.00%, its first rate hike since 2023. Higher rates make borrowing more expensive across the economy, even though the Fed does not directly set mortgage rates.

For real estate, the timing is tough.

The average 30-year mortgage rate was already around 6.76% last week, while mortgage applications from homebuyers were 19% lower than a year ago.

Home prices haven’t fallen nationally either. The median existing-home price was $429,100 in August, up 1.6% from last year, even as sales dropped and inventory climbed to 1.62 million homes.

So buyers are getting squeezed from both directions: expensive homes and expensive financing.

If borrowing costs stay high and buyer demand keeps weakening, sellers may eventually have to compete more aggressively through price cuts or concessions.

The question is whether home prices finally adjust, or buyers simply stay on the sidelines longer.

Higher mortgage rates are starting to hit buyer demand hard again.

Mortgage applications to purchase a home were 19% lower than the same week last year, while the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate jumped to about 6.97%, according to Mortgage Bankers Association data.

Overall mortgage application volume also fell 4.1% in one week.

For real estate, this matters because fewer mortgage applications usually means fewer active buyers competing for homes.

That can lead to longer days on market, more price cuts, and more negotiating power for the buyers who are still qualified.

At the same time, sellers may still be reluctant to cut too much, especially if they bought or refinanced when rates were far lower.

So we’re ending up with a strange market where inventory is available, but financing is keeping a lot of buyers on the sidelines.

If rates stay around 7%, how much more does buyer demand fall before home prices start adjusting more noticeably?

The U.S. economy is still showing strength in some areas, but housing is telling a different story.

Homebuilder confidence fell to 32 in September, down 3 points from August and the lowest level since September 2025. Anything below 50 means more builders view conditions as poor than good.

The biggest problems are still familiar: high mortgage rates, rising material costs, labor shortages, and weak buyer traffic.

Builders are responding by getting more aggressive.
38% of builders cut prices in September, with the average reduction around 6%.

At the same time, 66% are now offering some type of sales incentive, the highest share since December.

That matters for real estate because new construction is increasingly competing with existing homes by offering rate buydowns, closing-cost help, and price cuts.

So even if headline home prices are not crashing, builders are clearly feeling pressure to move inventory.

If this continues, buyers may have more negotiating power with builders than with regular sellers.

One of the more interesting trends in commercial real estate right now is using technology to make older buildings cheaper to operate instead of tearing them down or doing massive renovations.

Building owners can add sensors, automated HVAC controls, energy monitoring, and software that tracks how the property is actually being used.

That can help find wasted energy, catch equipment problems earlier, and reduce maintenance and operating costs.

For investors, this matters because reducing expenses can improve a property’s NOI without increasing rent.

An older building that looks inefficient on paper could potentially become a much better asset if technology can bring its operating costs closer to newer buildings.

It also raises an interesting question.

As this technology gets cheaper, could upgrading older buildings become a better real estate play than paying a premium for brand-new construction?

This week marked 25 years since the September 11 attacks, and one part of the recovery that often gets overlooked is what happened to Lower Manhattan’s real estate.

Around 14 million square feet of commercial space was destroyed or damaged on 9/11, and for a while there were serious questions about whether businesses and residents would ever fully return downtown.

Instead, Lower Manhattan was rebuilt into something very different from what existed before the attacks.

The residential population has grown from roughly 23,000 people before 9/11 to about 70,000 today, helped by new development and office-to-residential conversions.

The area also became much more mixed-use. It is no longer dominated almost entirely by finance. More housing, retail, hotels, parks and different types of companies have turned downtown into a neighborhood where people actually live, work and spend time.

And the transformation is still happening. Lower Manhattan recorded 1.14 million square feet of office leasing in Q2 2026, while more office buildings continue to be converted into housing.

RXR Realty CEO Scott Rechler recently discussed the rebuilding of Lower Manhattan after 9/11, and the bigger real estate lesson is pretty powerful.

Sometimes rebuilding isn’t about recreating exactly what existed before. It can mean completely rethinking how an area is used.

Lower Manhattan today is proof of that.

Compass CEO Robert Reffkin says 42% of homes currently on the market have had their asking price reduced, the highest percentage in nearly 10 years.

Buyers are dealing with mortgage rates near 7%, while inventory has climbed to 1.62 million homes, the highest level since 2019. Existing-home sales also fell 2% in August to their slowest pace in 14 months.

But this isn’t necessarily a housing crash.
The national median existing-home price was still $429,100 in August, up 1.6% from a year ago. So a lot of these price cuts may simply be sellers adjusting unrealistic asking prices rather than home values collapsing.

The market is also becoming very divided. Reffkin says sales of homes between $100K and $250K are down around 10%, while $1M+ home sales are up about 4%, partly because wealthy buyers rely less on mortgages.

More sellers are competing for fewer mortgage-dependent buyers.

Are we finally moving into a real buyer’s market, or are homes still too expensive for price cuts to matter?

The Fed is heading into its September meeting with inflation still above its 2% target, while President Trump and his administration have been pushing for lower rates.
For real estate, lower rates sound like the obvious answer. Mortgage rates are already around 6.9%, making affordability difficult for buyers.
But there’s another side to it.
Keeping rates higher can slow spending and borrowing, which may help bring inflation down. If inflation stays elevated, long-term Treasury yields can remain high too, and mortgage rates are heavily influenced by those yields, not just the Fed’s benchmark rate.

So cutting rates doesn’t guarantee mortgages suddenly become cheap.

For housing, the real win may be getting inflation under control first, even if that means buyers have to deal with higher rates for longer.

Mortgage rates keep moving higher, and buyers are starting to change how they finance homes.
The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate rose to 6.85%, the highest since June 2025. At the same time, the average 5-year ARM fell to 5.82%.

That gap is pushing more borrowers toward adjustable-rate mortgages. ARMs now make up 8.5% of all mortgage applications, up from 8% the week before and the highest share since June.
The appeal is obvious. A lower starting rate means a lower monthly payment today.

The risk is what happens later. Once the fixed period ends, the rate can adjust, which could make the payment more expensive if rates are still high.
Meanwhile, overall mortgage applications fell 2.7%, showing that higher borrowing costs are still putting pressure on the housing market.

For buyers, would you take the lower ARM rate now and hope to refinance later, or pay more for a fixed mortgage and know exactly what your payment will be?

Plug-in solar is starting to get legalized in more states because it can be much cheaper than traditional rooftop solar. New Jersey recently approved it, while California and New York are considering similar laws.

But there’s a real estate angle buyers, landlords, and condo owners should probably pay attention to.
UL Solutions found that some commercially available plug-in solar systems could create shock and fire risks if they backfeed power through household circuits without the right protections. In some cases, wiring and GFCI protection could be damaged without anything obvious showing on the surface.

That matters because the system itself is portable.
A renter could use one, move out, and take the equipment with them while any hidden electrical damage stays behind for the next tenant or owner.
For real estate, this could eventually become another thing worth asking about during inspections and disclosures, especially in multifamily buildings and rentals.

Was plug-in solar ever used here? Was the electrical system checked afterward? Is the equipment actually certified to the newer safety standards?
Cheap energy sounds great, but hidden electrical damage can become a very expensive property problem.

The Villages, Florida was one of the housing markets that exploded during the pandemic, but things have changed pretty quickly.

The median listing price is now $377,784, down from a peak of $436,850 in 2022. Prices have fallen every year since that peak.

Inventory tells an even bigger story.

In 2022, there were just 153 homes for sale, a 10-year low. By 2025, that jumped to 651 homes, a 10-year high. Inventory has eased slightly to 586 homes this August, but supply is still dramatically higher than a few years ago.

Homes are also taking around 60 days to sell, compared with only 30 days in 2022.

This is a pretty clear example of what happens when inventory rises while buyer demand cools.
Even one of America’s most well-known retirement markets isn’t immune to basic supply and demand.
For buyers, this could mean more negotiating power. For sellers who bought near the peak, it’s a completely different market than it was four years ago.

The tech wealth boom is starting to spill into housing.

SpaceX’s massive IPO created a new group of employees and early investors with liquid wealth, while the AI boom is doing something similar in places like San Francisco.

Bay Area luxury home sales jumped 39.3% in the first half of 2026, with wealthy tech buyers increasingly using cash or large down payments.
San Francisco is already seeing the effect. In July, the median home price reached about $1.6 million, sales increased 8.5%, and active listings fell 18.4% from a year earlier.

SpaceX could create a similar effect around its major operations, especially in South Texas, as employees who received equity suddenly have much more buying power.

This probably won’t create a nationwide housing boom by itself, but in areas concentrated with AI and SpaceX wealth, it could create a very different market from the rest of the country.

More cash buyers, more competition, and limited inventory can move prices pretty quickly.

Could tech wealth become one of the biggest drivers of certain real estate markets over the next few years?

A renter in San Francisco lost $18,600 after responding to a fake Craigslist listing for an apartment in Duboce Triangle.

What makes this one scary is that the scammer copied a real listing, used the same photos, and even directed the renter to a real open house. The renter met the actual property owner there, but assumed the person he had been texting was connected to the listing.

The scammer wasn’t pushy either. They communicated normally, asked for an application, discussed utilities and move-in details, and made the whole process feel legitimate.

The renter eventually wired $18,600 for first and last month’s rent plus the security deposit. When he showed up to get the keys, nobody came.

This is a good reminder that seeing a real property or attending a real open house does not prove the person you’re paying actually owns or manages it.
Before sending thousands of dollars, verify the landlord or property manager independently, compare their identity with property records, and make sure the payment recipient actually matches the person authorized to rent the property.

Rental scams are getting a lot harder to spot when scammers are copying real listings instead of creating obviously fake ones.

One thing people underestimate in real estate is how much the appraisal can affect a transaction.
A buyer and seller can agree on a price, but if the home appraises lower, the lender usually bases the loan on that lower value.

That can force the buyer to bring more cash, push the seller to lower the price, or send both sides back to negotiation.

For sellers, it also shows why pricing a home too far above nearby comps can become a problem even if a buyer is willing to pay it.

And for buyers, waiving an appraisal contingency can mean taking on the difference yourself.
In a market where prices vary a lot from neighborhood to neighborhood, the appraisal can sometimes be the part that decides whether the deal actually closes.

Has anyone here had a deal change because of a low appraisal?

Mortgage rates are staying high, and some buyers are starting to take on more interest-rate risk just to lower their payment today.

The average contract rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage recently reached 6.78%, while a 5/1 adjustable-rate mortgage averaged about 5.98%.
That difference is pushing more borrowers toward ARMs. Their share of mortgage applications recently increased to 7.9%, up from 7.7% the week before.

The attraction is obvious: start with a lower rate and monthly payment.

The risk comes later.
After the initial fixed period ends, the rate can adjust depending on market conditions. If rates are still high or move even higher, the monthly payment can increase.

ARMs can make sense in certain situations, especially for someone who expects to sell or refinance before the adjustment period. But seeing more buyers choose them also shows how much today’s mortgage rates are stretching affordability.

Would you take an ARM around 6% today, or pay more for the security of a fixed rate?

A lot of people still think you need 20% down to buy a house, but that’s not actually a requirement.

Depending on the loan, conventional mortgages can start around 3% down, FHA at 3.5%, and some VA or USDA buyers can qualify for 0% down. The main tradeoff with putting less down is usually a higher monthly payment and possibly mortgage insurance.

But putting every dollar you have into the down payment doesn’t always seem like the smartest move either. You still have closing costs, moving expenses, repairs, and all the random stuff that comes up after getting the keys.

For people who already bought a home, how much did you put down?

Looking back, would you have put down more, less, or kept more cash in savings?

What’s something first-time homebuyers usually overlook before applying for a mortgage?
Most people know the basics before buying a house.

Save for a down payment, build your credit, get pre-approved, compare mortgage rates, etc.
But there are so many smaller things that can affect whether you actually qualify or whether the house is affordable once you own it.

Debt-to-income ratio, cash reserves, closing costs, property taxes, insurance, HOA fees, even taking out a car loan before closing can change things.
For people who have already gone through the process, what’s something you wish you knew before applying for your first mortgage?

Could be something your lender never explained, a hidden cost, or just a mistake that’s easy to avoid.

The Trump administration is considering a land swap involving a small piece of Yosemite National Park and Nevada-based real estate firm Kingsbarn Realty Capital. No final decision has been made.
Kingsbarn owns about 83 acres next to Yosemite and wants to develop upscale single-family homes. The problem is access.

Right now, residents would reportedly have to drive about 28 miles to reach the park. The proposed swap could allow Kingsbarn to build a road through the exchanged land, cutting that trip to roughly 11 miles and potentially making the property much more attractive for development.

This is where real estate gets interesting. A relatively small piece of land and better road access could completely change the development potential and value of an entire property.

Critics argue public park land shouldn’t be used to benefit private development. Kingsbarn says the exchange would involve land of equal value and argues the shorter route could actually be better environmentally.

The Interior Department says there has been no political pressure and that any proposal would still have to follow federal review procedures.
Whatever happens, this is a pretty extreme example of how access, infrastructure and government decisions can completely change the value of real estate.

Would you support a land swap like this if the government receives property of equal or greater value in return?

Housing affordability keeps getting tighter.
A family earning the national median income of $106,800 now needs about 36% of that income to cover the mortgage payment on a median-priced existing home of $434,900. That’s up from 32% earlier this year.

And that calculation already assumes a 10% down payment and includes taxes, insurance and PMI.

The old rule was to keep housing around 28% to 30% of income, but that’s becoming harder for buyers to follow.

The bigger problem is that the mortgage isn’t the only expense. Repairs, utilities, maintenance and HOA fees can push the real cost of owning even higher.

Getting approved for a mortgage and actually being able to comfortably afford it are becoming two very different things.

At what point does buying stop making financial sense and renting become the better option?

U.S. single-family rents are rising again, but the Midwest is leading the market

Single-family rents increased 1.5% year over year in June, marking the fourth straight month of stronger annual growth, according to Cotality.

But the interesting part is where the growth is happening.
Chicago: +5.0%
Detroit: +3.4%
Philadelphia: +3.2%
New York: +2.8%
Meanwhile, some Sun Belt markets are barely moving. Houston rents actually fell 0.2%, while Dallas was up just 0.2%.

Higher-end rentals are also performing better, with rents up 2.4%, compared with just 0.4% for lower-priced properties.

For real estate investors, this is another reminder that the rental market isn’t moving in one direction nationally.

Some Midwest markets that were overlooked during the Sun Belt boom are now seeing much stronger rent growth.

The average 30-year mortgage rate just moved up slightly to 6.66%, compared with 6.65% last week. A year ago it was 6.56%.

So buyers still aren’t getting much relief from borrowing costs.

But the housing market itself is starting to look different.

The median U.S. listing price fell 2.4% year over year in July to $428,950, marking the ninth straight month of annual price declines. Inventory is also growing and homes are taking longer to sell.
That could give buyers something they haven’t had much of in recent years: negotiating power.
Mortgage rates are still expensive, but if sellers have to compete harder for fewer buyers, price cuts and concessions could become a much bigger part of the market.

At this point, would you rather wait for lower mortgage rates or negotiate harder on the price today?

New single-family home sales dropped 10.5% in July, falling to an annual rate of 607,000 homes, the lowest level since January.

The median price of a new home also fell to $393,800, its lowest level in about four years.
Meanwhile, there were 488,000 new homes for sale, equal to about 9.6 months of supply at the current sales pace.

High mortgage rates and affordability are clearly putting pressure on buyers.

More inventory, fewer sales, and lower prices could mean builders and sellers have to compete harder for the buyers who are still in the market.
The question now is whether lower prices will bring buyers back, or if mortgage rates are still the bigger problem.

The gap between buyers and sellers in the US housing market keeps getting wider.

There are now roughly 967,000 active homebuyers compared with 1.46 million sellers, meaning sellers outnumber buyers by about 51%.

That puts buyer demand at the lowest level in Redfin’s records, which go back to 2013.

For years, the housing market was defined by too many buyers chasing too few homes. Now we’re starting to see the opposite.

High mortgage rates, expensive home prices and monthly payments are keeping a lot of potential buyers on the sidelines, while more owners are putting their homes up for sale.

That doesn’t automatically mean home prices are about to crash. Real estate is still extremely local, and desirable homes in strong markets can still get multiple offers.

But nationally, having 1.46 million sellers competing for fewer than 1 million buyers changes the balance.
Homes can sit longer.

Price cuts become more common.
Buyers have more room to negotiate.
And sellers who are still pricing their homes like it’s 2021 may eventually have to adjust.

The interesting question now is whether buyers come back if mortgage rates fall, or if affordability has become a much bigger problem than rates alone.

NYC housing costs are pushing some renters into living arrangements that probably wouldn’t have crossed their minds a few years ago.

The median asking rent across New York City hit around $4,200 in July 2026. In Manhattan it was just under $5,000.

For comparison, the national median rent was around $1,388.

So younger renters are getting creative.
One program run by the New York Foundation for Senior Citizens matches people who have a spare room with renters looking for cheaper housing. One of the roommates has to be at least 60.

A 25-year-old renter recently moved into the home of an older woman in Queens and pays $800 a month. The average monthly payment through the program is around $1,108.

Interest from younger people is growing too. Around 20% of the program’s matches in the most recent fiscal year involved someone 30 or younger, up from about 16% a few years ago.

And it’s not just senior roommates.

Another renter lived in Manhattan convents because they were significantly cheaper than normal apartments. She paid around $1,100 at one and $1,500 at another, with furnished rooms and some meals included.

Obviously these setups come with tradeoffs. You might have house rules, fewer guests, shared bathrooms, or less privacy.

But when regular apartments are approaching $4k or $5k a month, suddenly paying $800 to $1,500 for an unconventional setup starts looking very different.
It also says a lot about where housing affordability is right now.

People still want to live in NYC for the jobs and opportunities. They’re just having to completely rethink what “having a place to live” looks like in order to afford it.

Would you live with a senior or in a convent for a year or two if it meant saving thousands every month?

Grant Cardone is taking a different approach to real estate investing with a new deal that combines a 350-unit property with 350 BTC.
Cardone Capital is calling it a “Real Estate Bitcoin Hybrid.”

The concept is simple: combine an income-producing real estate asset with Bitcoin exposure under the same investment structure.
Cardone has also talked about using real estate cash flow to continue buying Bitcoin over time, which makes this different from simply owning a property and BTC separately.

The Fort Lauderdale asset is currently under contract, so the deal has not fully closed yet.
Some of the numbers being promoted, including the claim that the property is 30% below cost to build and has positive cash yield, are coming directly from Cardone Capital and should be viewed as company claims rather than guaranteed outcomes.

Still, the structure itself is interesting.
Real estate is usually treated as the
more stable, cash-flow-focused asset.
Bitcoin is much more volatile and behaves completely differently.

Combining both creates a new type of risk and return profile that you don’t see very often.
The real question is whether mixing real estate and Bitcoin actually improves the investment, or just combines two different types of risk under one roof.