Washington delivered a nearly perfect example of The Give and Take this week. Congress considered a massive package called the Take Care of America’s Veterans Act. It contains more than 60 provisions affecting veterans’ health care, disability benefits, caregivers, surviving spouses, education, and other services. There is a great deal in the bill that veterans’…

Mortgage Rates July 2026: The Headlines Aren’t Telling the Whole Story What’s Happening Mortgage rates moved modestly higher this week. Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey reported the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage at 6.55%, up from 6.49% the previous week. Purchase demand softened while refinance activity continued to show strength, particularly among FHA and VA…

What’s Happening Mortgage rates remain remarkably stable. Freddie Mac reported the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage at 6.49%, up slightly from 6.43% the previous week, continuing a pattern of rates holding in a relatively narrow range. While geopolitical tensions and inflation concerns continue putting pressure on Treasury yields, the mortgage market has proven surprisingly resilient. The…

July 5, 2026 Should I Buy Now or Should I Wait? Everybody wants to know whether they should buy now or wait for lower rates and better prices. Reality: waiting is not automatically safer or smarter. You may get a slightly lower rate later. But if rates fall meaningfully, more buyers will come back into…

What’s Happening Mortgage rates continue holding in a relatively stable range, with conventional 30-year fixed rates still generally landing in the mid-to-upper 6% range for conventional loans and low 6s for governments, depending on borrower profile, loan structure, and execution. That’s important because stability matters. Markets have spent the last two years adjusting to inflation,…

What Washington Is Really Doing for Veterans Right Now July 2, 2026 In the first edition of The Give and Take, we set the ground rules: A bill is not a benefit. A hearing is not a law. And a headline does not always tell you what actually changed for a Veteran or a military…

What’s Happening Mortgage rates improved modestly this week. Freddie Mac’s benchmark 30-year fixed rate came in at 6.47%, down from 6.52% the prior week. That’s not a dramatic move, but it matters. And here’s what matters even more: Pending home sales continue improving. Buyer demand is returning. And the mortgage market continues showing resilience despite…

For Veterans who are behind on a VA mortgage, there is an important new option worth knowing about. The Department of Veterans Affairs has launched the VA Partial Claim Program, a foreclosure-prevention tool designed to help certain VA homeowners who have experienced a financial hardship but are now able to resume making their regular mortgage…

Here Is What It Actually Means for Homebuyers. Congress has passed the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, a large bipartisan housing package aimed at making it easier to build homes, reduce certain regulatory delays, modernize housing finance programs, and limit some institutional investor purchases of single-family homes. The President is expected to sign it.…

Every veteran’s bill comes with a press release that says some version of the same thing: “We’re fighting for our veterans.” That’s the headline. It’s rarely the whole story. Right now, Congress has a massive veterans package moving — the Take Care of America’s Veterans Act, and it’s a perfect case study in how these…