The week closed with financing pressure building even as housing demand showed pockets of resilience. The 10-year Treasury yield rose to 5.18% on Thursday and Freddie Mac's 30-year mortgage average moved above 7%. New-home sales increased in August and initial jobless claims remained near recent lows. In the Dominican Republic, second-quarter employment expanded from a year earlier, supporting the demand backdrop despite high financing costs.
01 · RATES & FINANCING
The 10-year Treasury yield rises to 5.18%
The U.S. Treasury's daily par yield curve placed the 10-year yield at 5.18% on September 24, up from 5.01% on September 18. The 30-year yield rose to 5.47% from 5.34% over the same period.
Freddie Mac's September 24 survey put the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate at 7.03%, up from 6.95% a week earlier and 6.30% a year earlier. The 15-year average increased to 6.42% from 6.26%.
New single-family home sales ran at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 684,000 in August, 6.4% above July but 2.0% below a year earlier. Supply eased to 8.5 months, while the median sales price was $393,700, 5.8% below August 2025; the monthly and annual sales changes were not statistically significant at the 90% confidence level.
Rate lock-in continues to constrain housing mobility
Federal Reserve Governor Michael Barr said about half of outstanding mortgages still carry rates of 4% or less and nearly 80% are below 6%. He also cited an Atlanta Fed affordability index reading of 68 in July, its lowest level in 21 years, and housing-shortage estimates ranging from roughly 2 million to 5.5 million units.
Seasonally adjusted initial claims were 197,000 for the week ended September 19, down 1,000 from the prior week's revised level. The four-week moving average fell by 1,750 to 202,250.
The Banco Central de la República Dominicana reported 5,271,005 employed people in the second quarter of 2026, up 147,456, or 2.9%, from a year earlier. Formal workers accounted for 50.7% of the net increase, while the open unemployment rate was 5.3%.
The U.S. Census Bureau is scheduled to publish the August advance report on manufacturers' shipments, inventories, and orders at 8:30 a.m. ET on Friday, September 25. These are scheduled data; no result is assumed in this review.