Mortgage rates – Every Thursday, Freddie Mac publishes interest rates based on a survey of mortgage lenders throughout the week. The Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Survey reported that mortgage rates for the most popular loan products as of March 26, 2026, were as follows: The 30-year fixed mortgage rate was 6.3%, up from 6.23% last week. The 15-year fixed was 5.64%, up from 5.58% last week.

The graph below shows the trajectory of mortgage rates over the past year.

Stock markets – The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed the week at 49,499.27, down 0.5% from 49,223.80 last week. It is up 2.4% year-to-date from 48,063.29 on December 31, 2025. The S&P 500 closed the week at 7,230.12, up 0.5% from 7,164.83 last week. The S&P is up 4.7% year-to-date from 6,845.50 on December 31, 2025. The Nasdaq closed the week at 25,114.44, up 1.5% from 24,833.05 last week. It is up 6.8% year-to-date from 23,241.99 on December 31, 2025.

U.S. Treasury Bonds – The 10-year treasury bond closed the week yielding 4.39%, up from 4.31% last week. The 30-year treasury bond yield ended the week at 4.97%, up from 4.91% last week. We watch bond yields because mortgage rates follow bond yields.

Economic update for the month ending April 30, 2026

Mortgage rates – Every Thursday, Freddie Mac publishes interest rates based on a survey of mortgage lenders throughout the week. The Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Survey reported that mortgage rates for the most popular loan products as of March 26, 2026, were as follows: The 30-year fixed mortgage rate was 6.30%, down slightly from 6.38% last month. The 15-year fixed was 5.64%, down from 5.75% last month.

Stock markets – The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed the month at 49,652.14, up 7.3% from 46,286.01 on March 31, 2026. The Dow is up 3.3% year-to-date from 48,063.29 on December 31, 2025. The S&P 500 closed the week at 7,209.01, up 10.4% from 6,527.47 on March 31st. The S&P is up 5.3% year-to-date from 6,845.50 on December 31, 2025. The Nasdaq closed the week at 24,892.31, up 15.3% from 21,592.47 at the end of March. The Nasdaq is up 7.1% year-to-date from 23,241.99 on December 31, 2025.

U.S. Treasury Bond Yields — The 10-year U.S. treasury bond yield closed the month at 4.32%, up from 4.22% On January 31, 2026. The 30-year US treasury bond yield ended the month at 4.91%, up from 4.85% on January 31, 2026. We watch bond yields because mortgage rates often follow treasury bond yields.

Home sales figures are released on the third week of the month for the previous month from the National Association of Realtors and the California Association of Realtors. Here is a summary of the March existing home sales reports.

U.S. existing-home sales – March 2026 – The National Association of Realtors reported that existing-home sales totaled 3.98 million units on a seasonally adjusted annualized rate in March, down 3.6% from the number of homes sold in February. Year-over-year home sales were down 1% from the number of homes sold last March. The median price paid for a home in the U.S. in March was $408,800, up 1.4% year-over-year from $403,100 last March.

California existing-home sales – The median price soared 7.1% in March as inventory tightened – The California Association of Realtors reported that existing-home sales totaled 265,320 on an adjusted annualized basis in March, down 3.5% from 274,820 annualized sales in February and down 2.5% from 272,020 last March. The statewide median price paid for a home in was in $889,190, in March up 7.1% from $830,370 in February. Year-over-year March’s median price was up 0.4% from $885,900 one year ago. There were fewer listings in February. Housing inventory declined 17.5% month-over-month in March. The unsold inventory index dropped to a 3.3-month supply of homes for sale in March, down from 4-month in February.

Below is the housing data for Southern California by County.

The graph below shows the trajectory of mortgage rates over the past year.

It was another wild month on Wall Street! It started with a jobs report showing that 178,000 new jobs were added in March. That was triple the 60,000 that expert analysts had forecast, and a turnaround from February, when there was a net job loss. This showed that the job market was not as dire as previously felt. Then, a ceasefire was announced with Iran, which also brought about a rebound from March’s steep losses after the war began. Third-quarter corporate earnings generally beat expectations, and tech and AI profits were stronger than expected. Inflation reports were mixed. The CPI report showed that inflation had jumped, but Core CPI, which excludes food and energy, was still under control. Unfortunately, on April 30, the PCE Personal Consumption Expenditures report was released, which showed that inflation was increasing more rapidly due to surging energy costs, which were spilling over into other goods and services. By the month’s end, the Dow surged 7.3% for the month and the S&P and Nasdaq jumped 10.4% and 15.3%, respectively. That made up all their steep losses when the war started in March and more.

Stock markets – The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed the month at 49,652.14, up 7.3% from 46,286.01 on March 31, 2026. The Dow is up 3.3% year-to-date from 48,063.29 on December 31, 2025. The S&P 500 closed the week at 7,209.01, up 10.4% from 6,527.47 on March 31st. The S&P is up 5.3% year-to-date from 6,845.50 on December 31, 2025. The Nasdaq closed the week at 24,892.31, up 15.3% from 21,592.47 at the end of March. The Nasdaq is up 7.1% year-to-date from 23,241.99 on December 31, 2025.

U.S. Treasury Bond Yields – The 10-year U.S. Treasury bond yield closed the month at 4.32%, up from 4.22% On January 31, 2026. The 30-year US treasury bond yield ended the month at 4.91%, up from 4.85% on January 31, 2026. We watch bond yields because mortgage rates often follow treasury bond yields.

Home sales figures are released on the third week of the month for the previous month by the National Association of Realtors and the California Association of Realtors. Here is a summary of the March existing home sales reports.

U.S. existing-home sales – March 2026 – The National Association of Realtors reported that existing-home sales totaled 3.98 million units on a seasonally adjusted annualized rate in March, down 3.6% from the number of homes sold in February. Year-over-year home sales were down 1% from the number of homes sold last March. The median price paid for a home in the U.S. in March was $408,800, up 1.4% year-over-year from $403,100 last March.

California existing-home sales – The median price soared 7.1% in March as inventory tightened – The California Association of Realtors reported that existing-home sales totaled 265,320 on an adjusted annualized basis in March, down 3.5% from 274,820 annualized sales in February and down 2.5% from 272,020 last March. The statewide median price paid for a home was $889,190 in March, up 7.1% from $830,370 in February. Year-over-year, March’s median price was up 0.4% from $885,900 one year ago. There were fewer listings in February. Housing inventory declined 17.5% month-over-month in March. The unsold inventory index dropped to a 3.3-month supply of homes for sale in March, down from 4 months in February.

Below is the housing data for Southern California by County.

Interest rates, however, have not fully followed that same trajectory. While they have come down from their recent highs, they remain elevated compared to pre-conflict levels. The 30-year fixed rate had dipped below 6% in February-its lowest point since 2022-but surged to approximately 6.75% after the conflict began and has now eased to around 6.3%. Unfortunately, rates tend to fall more slowly than they rise. With interest rates closely tied to inflation, the key question over the coming months will be how the recent spike in energy prices impacts inflation moving forward.

Mortgage rates – Every Thursday, Freddie Mac publishes interest rates based on a survey of mortgage lenders throughout the week. The Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Survey reported that mortgage rates for the most popular loan products as of April 16, 2026, were as follows: The 30-year fixed mortgage rate was 6.3%, down from 6.37% last week. The 15-year fixed was 5.65%, down from 5.74% last week.

The graph below shows the trajectory of mortgage rates over the past year

Stock markets – The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed the week at 49,447.43, up 3.2% from 47,915.57 last week. It is up 2.9% year-to-date from 48,063.29 on December 31, 2025. The S&P 500 closed the week at 7,126.06, up 4.5% from 6,816.89 last week. The S&P is up 4.1% year-to-date from 6,845.50 on December 31, 2025. The Nasdaq closed the week at 24,468.48, up 6.8% from 22,902.90 last week. It is up 5.3% year-to-date from 23,241.99 on December 31, 2025.

U.S. Treasury Bonds – The 10-year treasury bond closed the week yielding 4.26%, down from 4.31% last week. The 30-year treasury bond yield ended the week at 4.88%, down slightly from 4.91% last week. We watch bond yields because mortgage rates follow bond yields.

Home sales are released about the third week of the month by the California Association of Realtors and the National Association of Realtors. This week, the National Association of Realtors released its March home sale report. The California Association of Realtors should release its report next week. You can get the March sales numbers for your city or zip code from our website, RodeoRe.com. We tabulate and release using the same data on the 8th of each month.

U.S. existing-home sales – March 2026 – The National Association of Realtors reported that existing-home sales totaled 3.98 million units on a seasonally adjusted annualized rate in March, down 3.6% from the number of homes sold in February. Year-over-year home sales were down 1% from the number of homes sold last March. The median price paid for a home in the U.S. in March was $408,800, up 1.4% year-over-year from $403,100 last March.

Have a Great Weekend!

Mortgage rates – Every Thursday, Freddie Mac publishes interest rates based on a survey of mortgage lenders throughout the week. The Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Survey reported that mortgage rates for the most popular loan products as of April 9, 2026, were as follows: The 30-year fixed mortgage rate was 6.37%, down from 6.46% last week. The 15-year fixed was 5.74%, down slightly from 5.77% last week.

The graph below shows the trajectory of mortgage rates over the past year.

Consumer prices spiked in March as energy prices jumped – The consumer price index (CPI) was released on Friday. It showed that consumer prices grew at an annual rate of 3.3% in March, up 0.9% from an annual increase of 2.4% in January and February. That marked its highest inflation rate in over 2 years. The core (CPI), which excludes food and energy, ticked up to 2.6% from one year ago, up just 0.1% from at 2.5% in February. That’s an indication that if energy prices subside, the headline CPI could adjust back down quickly. The Bureau of Economic Analysis released the February Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index (PCE), the Fed’s favorite gauge of inflation. It showed that PCE increased 2.8% from one year ago, unchanged from January. Core PCE, which excludes food and energy rose 3% from one year ago, down from 3.1% in January. The report was delayed due to the government shutdown, and February was before the Iran conflict began so it’s hard to gauge today’s PCE rate. Hopefully, it won’t follow the March CPI number.

Below is a chart of the CPI rate since 2021

Stock markets – The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed the week at 47,915.57, up 5.3% from 45,504.67 last week. It is down 0.3% year-to-date from 48,063.29 on December 31, 2025. The S&P 500 closed the week at 6,816.89, up 3.6% from 6,582.69 last week. The S&P is down 0.5% year-to-date from 6,845.50 on December 31, 2025. Nasdaq closed the week at 22,902.90, up 4.7% from 21,879.18 last week. It is down 1.5% year-to-date from 23,241.99 on December 31, 2025.

U.S. Treasury Bonds – The 10-year treasury bond closed the week yielding 4.31%, down slightly from 4.35% last week. The 30-year treasury bond yield ended the week at 4.91%, unchanged from 4.91% last week. We watch bond yields because mortgage rates follow bond yields.

Next week the California Association of Realtors will release its March home sales report. We tabulate a little quicker, and you can get the same data today by city or zip code at RodeoRe.com.

Have a Great Weekend!