【World Property Journal】U.S. Homebuyers Must Wait Until Mid-2027 for Mortgage Rate Relief
【World Property Journal】U.S. Homebuyers Must Wait Until Mid-2027 for Mortgage Rate Relief
Fannie Mae is now predicting 30-year fixed mortgage rates will average 6.8% in the fourth quarter of 2026 and hold at that elevated level through the first half of 2027, according to the mortgage-finance giant's August Housing Forecast, released this week by its Economic and Strategic Research Group.
The revision marks a sharp increase from the forecast issued just a month earlier. Fannie Mae's July 2026 outlook had called for 30-year fixed rates to average 6.4% through the rest of 2026, before easing to 6.3% over the first three quarters of 2027 and dropping to 6.2% by the fourth quarter of that year. The new August 2026 forecast erases that expected decline entirely: rates are now projected to average 6.7% in the third quarter and 6.8% in the fourth quarter of 2026, before holding at 6.8% through the first half of 2027 and easing only slightly, to 6.7%, in the second half.