Mortgage rates drooped to their lowest levels since 2022 in February – The Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Survey reported that mortgage rates for the most popular loan products as of February 26, 2026, were as follows: The 30-year fixed mortgage rate was 5.98%, down from 6.10% on January 31, 2065. The 15-year fixed was 5.44%, down slightly from 5.49% on January 31, 2026.
Inflation cooled in January – The consumer price index (CPI) was released on Friday; it showed that consumer prices grew at an annual rate of 2.4% in January, down from a 2.7% annual increase in December. The core (CPI), which excludes food and energy, increased 2.5% from one year ago, down from 2.6% in December.
Stock markets – The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed the month at 48,977.92, up 0.2% from 48,892.47 on January 31, 2026. The Dow is up 1.9% year-to-date from 48,063.29 on December 31, 2025. The S&P 500 closed the week at 6,879.98, down 0.9% from 6,939.03 on January 31, 2026. The S&P is up 0.5% year-to-date from 6,845.50 on December 31, 2025. The Nasdaq closed the week at 22,668.21, down 3.4% from 23,461.82 at the end of January. It Nasdaq down 2.4% 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 3.97%, down from 4.26% On January 31, 2026. The 30-year US treasury bond yield ended the month at 4.64%, down from 4.87% 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 January existing home sales reports.
U.S. existing-home sales – January 2026 – The National Association of Realtors reported that existing-home sales totaled 3.91 million units on a seasonally adjusted annualized rate in January, down 8.4% from the number of homes sold in December. Year-over-year home sales were down 4.4% from the number of homes sold last January. The median price paid for a home sold in the U.S. in January was $396,800, down from $404,400 in December. Year-over-year the median price is up 0.9% from $393,400 last January.
California existing-home sales – The California Association of Realtors reported that existing-home sales totaled 256,550 on an annualized basis in January, down 10.8% from 287,570 in December and down 1.3% from 260,040 last January. The statewide median price paid for a home was $823,180 in January, down 3.2% from $850,680 in December, and down 1.9% from $839,130 one year ago. The $823,180 median price marked the lowest median price in 23-months according to the California Association of Realtors.
The graph below shows CAR sales data by county for Southern California.
