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| @THECLTMORTGAGEGUY |
CHARLOTTE, NC |
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| THE WEEKLY WRAP |
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| RATES · MARKET INTEL · WHAT IT MEANS FOR YOU |
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| VOL 1 · ISSUE 25 |
FRIDAY · SEP 25 2026 |
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01 Rates still elevated | 02 Rates moved higher | 03 Assumable mortgages
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| 01 · THE BIG STORY |
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| When Rates Stay High, Assumables Get Interesting |
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| Welcome back. Last week we covered the Fed’s higher-for-longer message. This week delivered the hangover: mortgage rates jumped midweek and stayed elevated. Thursday’s pause and Friday’s small bounce were not a turning point. If your buyers are still waiting for a miracle dip, reset that expectation. |
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| Here is the other side of higher rates: some sellers still carry an older, lower-rate loan that a buyer might take over. That is an assumable mortgage — Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) loans are the ones agents see most often. It is not free money, and it is not automatic. There is usually an equity gap to fund, the buyer still has to qualify, and the seller should protect a release of liability. On Tuesday at noon we will unpack what assumable really means, how to spot it on a listing, how to check the numbers before you write the offer, and exactly when to loop me in so the numbers and the servicer process do not blow up the deal. |
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| 02 · MARKET UPDATE |
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| The Week Rates Climbed — and Why It Matters for Buyers. |
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| Buyers wanted rates to ease after last week’s Fed hangover. Instead, the week told a different story. |
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30-YR FIXED
7.03%
VS 6.95%
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DIRECTION
↑ Up
HIGHER THAN LAST WEEK
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WHAT DROVE IT
Rates Climbed
OIL NEWS + STRONG ECONOMY
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| FREDDIE MAC WEEKLY AVERAGE · SEP 24, 2026 · NATIONAL SURVEY (NOT A RATE COMPANY QUOTE) |
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| Monday opened quiet. Agents and buyers were still living with last week’s Fed hangover — the higher-for-longer message had not faded. Oil prices had eased a little from the scariest levels, but they were still high enough to keep everyone watching. Home-loan rates started the week elevated. With a light data calendar ahead, most people hoped for a calm stretch and maybe a little relief. That is not what they got. |
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| Tuesday stayed mostly in place. Rates chopped around without a big move either way. Oil was still hovering near one hundred dollars a barrel — the kind of pressure that keeps inflation worries alive even when rates themselves look stable for a day. For buyers shopping that day, nothing broke, and nothing got meaningfully better either. Rates were elevated and holding. |
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| Then came Wednesday — the day that wrote the week. News broke that an oil tanker had been hit in a key Middle East oil shipping route, and oil prices jumped. The same day, fresh surveys of factories and businesses came in stronger than expected. Put those two together and home-loan rates jumped hard. That is the move agents felt in their inboxes and in buyer conversations: payments that looked tough on Monday looked tougher by Wednesday afternoon. |
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| Thursday brought a modest pause — a small bounce that did not undo Wednesday’s damage. Fresh claims news on the job market came in stronger than expected, and oil tension along that Middle East shipping route was still there. Rates stayed high. Around that midweek climb, Freddie Mac’s national weekly average for the 30-year fixed landed at 7.03%, up from 6.95% the week before. That is a national survey print, not a Rate company quote — and it matches what buyers were already feeling. |
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| Today (Friday) opened with a modest recovery attempt. Oil softened a bit, and there was talk of a possible deal that could calm the shipping-route tension. Treat that as hope, not a done deal. Stronger factory and business orders also printed this morning — another reminder that the economy still has muscle. One morning bounce is not an all-clear. Next week is heavy with jobs and inflation news that can still move what buyers pay. The week started with hope for relief after the Fed hangover. It ends with rates higher, oil still in the story, and a calendar that can still change the payment. |
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TUESDAY LIVE
Assumable Mortgages: Spot Them, Underwrite Them, Close Them
With today’s rates elevated, an older FHA or VA loan on a listing can become a real advantage — if you know what you are looking at. We will cover what “assumable” means in one clean sentence, which loans usually qualify and which usually do not, how the equity gap works, who has to qualify, how listing and buyer agents should flag and underwrite the opportunity, and when to bring me in early so we can run the numbers and talk to the servicer before anyone writes a fragile offer. Bring the listing you think might be assumable, or the buyer asking if they can “take over the rate.”
TUESDAY · SEP 29 · 12:00 PM ET · drop in, no booking needed
Have a topic for a future call? Just reply to this email. I read every one.
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| See you Tuesday. When a client needs rate clarity or an assumable scenario run, send them my way. Daily updates on Instagram at @thecltmortgageguy, and intros, consults, or the Tuesday Zoom link live at linktr.ee/thecltmortgageguy. |
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| Ian Smith · VP of Lending, Rate |
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| [email protected] · linktr.ee/thecltmortgageguy · @thecltmortgageguy |
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| Ian Smith, NMLS #1465241 · Equal Housing Lender / © 2026 Guaranteed Rate, Inc. D/B/A Rate · NMLS ID 2611 / Rates shown are illustrative, subject to change, and are not a commitment to lend. |
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