Weekly Mortgage Rates 2-24-2026

Weekly Mortgage Rates

February 24, 2026

When uncertainty and risk increase, the bond market benefits from a flight to safety as investors park money in its “safe haven.” Mortgage rates are closely tied to bond market moves and recent events have helped them hold at their best levels since 2022. We have touched these levels briefly before — but can we go even lower?

Tariffs Back in Focus

On Friday, the Supreme Court ruled that the reciprocal tariffs Trump put in place on Liberation Day were illegal. In response and to replace these, Trump announced over the weekend a 15% across-the-board tariff on all countries under a different legal authority that falls outside the emergency powers the Supreme Court’s ruling addressed. The announcement of both new and now-invalidated tariffs contributed to Monday’s stock market sell-off. So many questions remain, will the tariff money be returned? What tariffs will remain in place moving forward?  Companies need certainty to invest and grow, and until the path forward on tariffs becomes clear, businesses will hold back on major investments.

The Robots Are Coming

A paper from Citrini Research went viral yesterday, laying out a speculative scenario of how AI could disrupt the economy. While entirely fictional, it is entirely plausible — and it includes speculation on real estate and mortgage outcomes (definitely worth the read!)

The fact that a paper based on hypothetical events could trigger a notable market reaction makes clear that Wall Street is actively trying to calibrate what the new economy might look like and position accordingly.

In Other News

Friday’s PCE core inflation reading came in at 3.0%, this is an increase from the previous month, and this is the measure the Fed watches most closely. Interestingly, inflation was running at a similar level prior to Liberation Day, reinforcing that tariffs have not yet meaningfully impacted inflation, though it remains above the Fed’s 2% target.

GDP for the first quarter came in much lower than expected at 1.4%, leaving us with a difficult combination of elevated inflation and slowing growth. The bond market’s reaction was relatively muted, largely overshadowed by Wall Street’s response to tariff developments and AI-related concerns.

What’s Ahead

The State of the Union address tonight could move markets depending on what policies Trump puts forward on housing, tariffs, and the economy. Otherwise, it’s a light week for economic data.

Over the past couple of weeks, the 10-year Treasury yield has made a clear move lower, dropping from around 4.30% down toward the 4.00% level. That 4.00% mark has proven to be a hard floor to break through, and a lack of market conviction has been holding us back from pushing lower.