Thirty-year mortgage rates fell to 6.298% this week, a small drop from 6.325% the previous week, according to U.S. News data. Modest fluctuations in borrowing rates like these are expected to continue throughout the winter months, especially if economic conditions remain fairly stable.
Housing Affordability Is Still a Problem
Home prices rose in 73% of metro markets during 2025’s fourth quarter, according to the latest quarterly report from the National Association of Realtors.
“Home sales squeaked out a gain in the final quarter of 2025,” said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun in a release. “Mortgage rates fell, income growth outpaced home price growth, and the income required to buy a typical home declined.”
That said, Yun pointed out that some markets are experiencing home price declines — notably, in areas where recent home construction has contributed to a large supply of homes.
Many homebuyers are still waiting for mortgage rates to drop before making an offer. The NAR reported that the typical existing single-family home would now leave buyers with a monthly mortgage payment of $2,057 after making a 20% down payment. While that’s 5.7% decrease from the previous quarter, it’s still too high a number for typical wage earners.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that median weekly earnings for full-time wage and salary workers in 2025 were $1,204. Assuming 4.33 working weeks per month, a $2,057 mortgage constitutes roughly 39.5% of median monthly wages, far beyond the 30% cap experts recommend allocating to housing expenses.
Meanwhile, for the week ending Jan. 30, mortgage applications decreased 8.9% from the previous week, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association. The group attributed some of that weakness to storm-related disruption.
“Winter Storm Fern likely had an impact as much of the country was snowed in, hampering homebuying activity,” said Joel Kan, MBA’s vice president and deputy chief economist, in a release.
Major storms aside, buyers may not feel particularly incentivized to enter the housing market when rates are still well above 6% and home prices haven’t budged much.
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Homes Are Taking Longer to Sell, Which Could Work in Buyers’ Favor
In January, the average home spent 78 days on the market, according to data from Realtor.com. That’s five days longer than the previous year. January also marked the 22nd straight month of homes taking longer to sell on an annual basis.
Part of that may be due to seasonality more so than affordability. Winter tends to be a sluggish time for real estate, and average days on market could start to shrink once the weather warms.
But if buyers continue to wait for mortgage rates to fall and homes continue to take longer to sell, it could push real estate prices lower. That, in turn, could help more buyers enter the market later this year even if mortgage rates stay above 6% for much of 2026.
More from U.S. News
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The Fed Holds Steady: Could That Be Good News for the Housing Market?
Mortgage Rates Drop Slightly in Early February originally appeared on usnews.com
