Mortgage Rates Ease for a Third Week as Housing Demand Steadies and Oahu Condo Prices Slip Below $500,000

U.S. housing demand has stopped deteriorating after three straight weeks of lower mortgage rates, but it is not yet growing, according to weekend tracking data published Nov. 7, 2026. In Hawaii, fresh October figures from the Honolulu Board of Realtors showed how rates above 7% are still weighing on sales and prices, especially in the condominium market.

Inventory falls as rates ease

In his weekly housing tracker for HousingWire, Logan Mohtashami reported that active housing inventory fell to 902,740 in the week of Oct. 30 to Nov. 6, down from 914,833 a week earlier. In the comparable week of 2025, inventory fell from 856,751 to 842,257. Year-over-year inventory growth is running at 7.18%, he wrote.

Mohtashami said the key development of the past three weeks is that lower rates, even while still above 7%, have stabilized demand after a noticeable slowdown when mortgage rates approached 7.60%. He cautioned that this is stabilization rather than growth. Weekly pending home sales totaled 51,764, compared with 59,164 in the same week last year. He noted that over the past several years housing demand has grown when mortgage rates fell below 6.64% and moved toward 6%, and that year-over-year comparisons will remain difficult because rates were heading toward 6% at this time last year.

Purchase application data, which looks 30 to 90 days ahead, showed a small week-to-week decline. So far in 2026, the tracker counts 16 positive week-to-week prints, 24 negative and five flat, along with 25 weeks of positive year-over-year growth and 15 negative year-over-year readings.

New listings and price cuts

New listings followed their typical seasonal decline, at 54,479 last week versus 55,486 a year earlier. Mohtashami wrote that 2026 has been the healthiest year for new listings since 2022, with more than 80,000 new listings in a week a few times this year, and that sellers have not pulled back in a meaningful way. The share of listings with a price cut was about 43%, compared with 42% a year earlier.

Spreads keep rates above 7%

The tracker put the mortgage rate at 7.17% and said the spread between mortgage rates and the 10-year Treasury yield widened to 2.27% from 2.23% a week earlier. Spreads have historically ranged from 1.60% to 1.80%. Using this year’s best spread levels, rates would be about 6.72%, while the worst spread levels of 2023 would imply about 8.11%, Mohtashami calculated. He said the 10-year yield has reversed from a top of 5.35% toward 4.82%, and that he would want to see it break below 4.70% with follow-through buying before expecting a sustained move lower in mortgage rates.

Oahu: condos take the biggest hit

On Oahu, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported Nov. 7 that October median prices and sales fell from a year earlier for both single-family homes and condominiums, according to data released Friday by the Honolulu Board of Realtors.

The median condo resale price fell 6.7% to $499,000 from $535,000, the first time it has slipped below $500,000 since November 2025, when it was $487,450. Condo sales dropped 23.5% to 339 from 443, and sales below $500,000 made up half of condo transactions, with 171 units sold. The median single-family resale price dipped 1.1% to $1,150,000 from $1,162,500, while single-family sales fell 8.4% to 239 from 261.

“Higher mortgage rates compared to a year ago are putting additional pressure on buyers’ budgets, and we’re seeing that reflected in slower sales and fewer contracts being signed,” said Aaron Tangonan, president of the Honolulu Board of Realtors. Single-family homes nonetheless sold faster, spending a median of 15 days on the market versus 26 a year earlier, and 34.8% sold above asking price, compared with 16.1% of condos. Condo days on market rose to 49 from 44. The month ended with 805 active single-family listings and 2,506 active condo listings.

Chad Takesue, interim CEO of the brokerage Locations, described a “two-tiered market,” with single-family homes selling in record time this year while condos carry more than twice the months of remaining inventory. The newspaper noted that Freddie Mac’s average 30-year rate of 7.18% this week, though down for three straight weeks, remains well above the 6.22% of a year ago.

The week ahead

The National Association of Realtors will publish October existing-home sales at 10 a.m. ET on Thursday, Nov. 12, according to CNBC’s week-ahead calendar. The October consumer price index is due Tuesday, Nov. 10, and the producer price index on Friday, Nov. 13. Mohtashami wrote that the existing-home sales report “won’t be pretty” and that he will watch how the 10-year yield reacts to the inflation data and to scheduled Federal Reserve speeches.

Sources: HousingWire, Nov. 7, 2026; Honolulu Star-Advertiser, Nov. 7, 2026; CNBC, Nov. 6, 2026.