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📊 The Weekly Altos Market Report: August 3, 2026

Mortgage rates held near 7% last week as buyer demand continued to grow year over year, though at a slower pace. Inventory rose again, and a larger share of sellers cut asking prices.

📈 The National Data

Mortgage rates are pressing up near 7%, but demand is still hanging in because spreads are keeping financing costs from breaking higher and buyers are adjusting rather than disappearing.

• Mortgage rates/spreads: The 30-year fixed rate is 6.97%, while spreads are at 2.0% with the 10-year at 4.74%.
  
  

• Pending sales: Weekly pending sales were 69,109 vs 68,413 a year ago, and total pending sales were 396,572 vs 386,561.
  
  

• Inventory: Active inventory rose to 872,932 from 865,233 in a week and is up 0.85% year over year.
  
  

• New listings & price cuts: New listings were 72,556 vs 69,836 last year, and 40.97% of homes had recent price reductions.

Bottom line: If rates stay elevated, the playbook is to win on pricing and positioning.

💡Turn National Data into Local Context with Altos

Here’s how agents and teams can translate this week’s national story into local conversations that win listings and help buyers act decisively:

• Separate “inventory up” from “more buyer leverage” in your ZIP codes: National active listings rose to ~872,933 while median days on market stayed at 63. Use Altos Inventory trends alongside Days on market trends by ZIP code to pinpoint neighborhoods where supply is building without faster absorption.

• Quantify whether demand is keeping up with fresh supply this week: New listings are softening in price and supply is rising. Use Altos New listings vs. listings absorbed chart to see if your area is matching new inventory with closed/absorbed activity or falling behind.

*Custom charts shown above available to users on the Altos Advanced plan.

📰 Market News & Policy Watch

Beyond the weekly numbers, several key developments are shaping the 2026 landscape:

• AI’s housing impact is strong, but highly localized: Even with national price cuts running above 40%, HousingWire spotlights how some tech/AI pockets (notably the Bay Area) are still supply-constrained while markets like Austin are seeing higher inventory, longer market times and widespread reductions. See which local signals separate resilient pockets from correction markets.
  
  

• Here’s where the housing market is headed on its way into 2027: Economists at PCBC expect mortgage rates to hover roughly in the mid-6% range near-term, with affordability improving slowly as income rises and price growth cools, but resale supply staying constrained by lock-in. Get the rate-and-inventory outlook to guide fall pricing conversations.
   

• Mortgage affordability improves in June as median payment slips to $2,191: MBA's Purchase Applications Payment Index fell 0.3% in June as the national median payment on new purchase applications dropped to $2,191, with 4.6% earnings growth putting affordability 3.5% better than a year ago. See how payment relief is landing unevenly across markets.

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