Here is the headline for this check, and it is a big one: mortgage rates crossed 7%. Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey released Thursday, September 24 put the average 30-year fixed rate at 7.03%, up from 6.95% a week earlier and the first time the rate has sat above 7% since early 2025. The 15-year averaged 6.42%, up from 6.26%. For perspective, the same survey read about 6.30% a year ago, so the rate has climbed roughly three-quarters of a point over twelve months. The usual note up front: no finalized September MLS dataset is published yet, so community figures come from the most recent available reports, and sources vary by methodology. My job is to tell you what the numbers mean for your situation, not just recite them.
Builders Are Cutting Prices, and It Is Worth Noticing
The other fresh number this week comes from the Census Bureau and HUD, which released their August new-home sales report on September 24. New single-family sales ran at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 684,000, up 6.4% from July's revised 643,000 yet down 2.0% from a year earlier. The median new-home price fell to $393,700, down 5.8% from a year ago, with about 8.5 months of new-home supply on the market at the end of August. Translation: builders are adjusting prices to move inventory, which is the clearest seller response we have seen in a while. For buyers, that makes well-built new construction a real card to play this fall, and for sellers, it is one more reason a sharp opening price matters.
The National Picture, in One Breath
The existing-home side still reads as we summarized earlier this month: August sales of 3.98 million, the first month below 4 million since June 2025, a 4.9-month supply, the most since 2015, and a national median of $429,100, up 1.6% for the 38th straight month of year-over-year gains. More supply, steadier prices: that is the national story, and it matches what our local towns are showing.
Where the Locals Stand
Lake County, Indiana, remains the tightest market in the region. Redfin's August update, the freshest full county read, puts the median sale price near $296,009, up about 3.9% year over year, with new listings down about 25%, pending sales down about 29% and the median home selling in about 32 days, roughly 12 days faster than a year earlier. About 22% of homes sold above list, and active inventory sits about 16% below a year ago. That is a supply-constrained market, not a soft one. On the state level, the Indiana Association of REALTORS' most recent monthly report, for July, shows 8,112 closed sales, up about 5% year over year, at a statewide median price near $285,000, up about 4%. For the full town-by-town detail, this month's earlier market updates carry the freshest reads we have for Frankfort, Orland Park, Munster, Crown Point and the rest of the communities I serve.
What This Means for Sellers
Rates above 7% change the conversation before buyers even walk through the door, so your opening price matters more than it has all year. In Lake County, where supply is still thin and the best homes sell in about a month, a well-priced, well-presented home still draws real traffic. In the South Suburbs, where inventory keeps building, honest pricing is the difference between a decisive first-week offer and watching the market pass you by. The buyers who are out there now are serious: they are pre-approved and ready to move on the right home.
What This Means for Buyers
Here is the honest glass-half-full version: the choice is better than it has been in years, even as the rate has climbed. More resale supply gives you negotiating room in most of the towns I serve, and the new-home market is one of the first places in a long while where builders are cutting prices to compete. The payment is real, the rate is real, and nobody can tell you with certainty where rates go next, yet waiting has its own cost: you keep paying rent, and every month you wait is a month you are not building equity. The buyers who win this fall are the ones who run the numbers with a lender, get pre-approved and stay ready to act when the right home appears.
One More Thing
I am licensed in both Illinois and Indiana, so I can compare the South Suburbs and Northwest Indiana in a single conversation, property taxes included. If you want to know what today's rate means for your payment, what your home is worth, or what the new-home price cuts could save you, I would love to run the numbers with you. Call me at (708) 252-1490 or schedule a call any time. You Can With Joanne!™