This Week's Trending Topic
Mortgage rates crept higher again last week, the second straight weekly increase. The 30-year fixed landed in the high 6% range, pushed up mostly by rising oil prices and inflation worries tied to global tension in the Middle East. Treasury yields followed the same path, and that's what's dragging mortgage rates with them.
Here's the part most headlines are burying: housing inventory keeps climbing, and affordability is still improving on a year-over-year basis even with the recent bump. Buyers aren't sitting on the sidelines waiting for a perfect number anymore, they're adjusting and moving. And all eyes are now on the Fed's meeting this week (July 28–29). No cut is expected, but any shift in tone could move rates fast in either direction.
Bottom line: this isn't a "rates are exploding" story. It's a "stay ready, stay informed" story.
Abdel's Angle
Rate noise is a distraction if you don't have a system. Every week there's a new headline pulling buyers and partners in opposite directions, and every week, the agents and business owners who win are the ones who aren't reacting to headlines, they're executing a plan.
For referral partners: your job right now isn't to predict the Fed. It's to keep your buyers pre-approved, informed, and confident enough to act when the right home shows up, regardless of what the 30-year does next Tuesday. Inventory is opening doors that didn't exist a year ago. Don't let rate anxiety talk your clients out of a deal that still works on the numbers.
For business owners: this is a planning-cycle mindset, not a market-timing one. Build your Q3 goals around what you control, lead flow, follow-up systems, and consistency, not around what the Fed decides in a room you're not in. The businesses that scale in choppy conditions are the ones running on systems, not sentiment.
I built Got Mortgages on that principle: execution beats prediction, every time.
Action Step of the Week
If you're a referral partner: Send this to any buyer who paused because of rate headlines, "Rates moved a little this week, but inventory's up and your buying power hasn't changed much. Want me to run your numbers today so you're ready the second the right listing hits?"
If you're a homebuyer: Get a real payment scenario run this week, not last month's numbers. A 0.2% swing changes your budget more than you think.
If you're a business owner: Block 30 minutes this week for a Q3 systems check, pick one process (lead follow-up, referral tracking, or client communication) and tighten it before the quarter gets busier.
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Author: Abdel Khawatmi with PRMG-Got Mortgages
Originally published in Abdel Khawatmi’s Monday Market Pulse newsletter on LinkedIn.