Housing Week Ahead: Down Payment Trends, New-Home Sales, and Bracing for 7% Mortgage Rates

The upcoming week brings a steady stream of housing insights from the Realtor.com economics team as well as a handful of key indicators.On Tuesday, senior economist Joel Berner will offer guidance on how homebuyers can prepare their budgets for mortgage rate volatility, as rates hit their highest level since early 2025.Then on Wednesday, senior economist Anthony Smith delivers the next installment of his "Lowkey Luxe" series, highlighting high-end market trends in Sevierville, TN.Our coverage continues on Thursday as senior economist Hannah Jones analyzes recent down payment trends, while senior economist Jiayi Xu breaks down the latest weekly housing market metrics.As well, Thursday features team commentary on two major economic releases: Anthony will respond to Freddie Mac’s weekly survey of mortgage rates, while Joel covers official new-home sales data from the U.S. Census Bureau.This week's mortgage rate reading marks the first full assessment following the recent Federal Reserve decision to raise the benchmark interest rate. Because market expectations had previously pushed borrowing costs close to 7%, this new reading could officially push rates past that threshold, directly ...