President Donald Trump repeatedly said talks with Iran on ending the war were going “very well,” even as Iranian officials publicly denied negotiations were taking place and vowed to continue fighting. That disconnect left markets bracing for more headline‑driven swings.
For originators and brokers, the key question is not whether rates might briefly print a 7‑handle, but how borrowers would react if they did.
When mortgage rates previously approached that threshold, “seeing a mortgage rate close to the 7% mark might be initially dispiriting,” loan officer Jay Lessard told MPA, but buyers who could handle the payment often decided “it may be in their interest to move ahead” rather than wait.
What higher‑for‑longer could mean for housing
Freddie Mac’s chief economist Sam Khater warned earlier that even modest shifts in yields could quickly feed through to housing costs. The 30‑year mortgage rates were already averaging about 6.22% before the latest spike, with the odds of any Fed rate cuts this year fading as gas prices surged.
For now, industry veterans viewed 7% not as a certainty, but as a live risk.
