I Told Every Client Under Contract to Lock. Here’s the Number That Decided It

Mortgage rates today are under pressure after Brent crude broke $90 a barrel, and the Federal Reserve just put a rate HIKE back on the table. Here is what moved, what it costs, and what I am telling my clients to do about it.

Updated for Monday, August 31, 2026 — Mortgage bonds opened down 15 on oil and Middle East conflict, pushing mortgage rates toward 6.85% and possibly 7%. PCE inflation sits at 3.7% against the Federal Reserve's 2% target, with 54% of the basket running over 3% versus 32% before the pandemic. Inflation has now been above target for 64 straight months. Meanwhile 23,000 jobs were lost in July and May–June revisions erased another 103,000 — and the Fed said plainly it is focused on inflation, not jobs.

Here is the part almost nobody explains to homebuyers: the Federal Reserve can raise rates and your mortgage rate can still go down. The Fed sets short-term interbank lending. Mortgage rates track the 10-Year Treasury. If bond investors believe a hike will actually control inflation, long-term yields can fall even while the funds rate rises. That mechanism is walked through at 06:40.

What I am telling clients: if you are under contract, lock your mortgage rate. I cannot price around another drone strike. If you are not under contract yet, watch two things — oil and inflation. Oil back under $70 and holding is when the Federal Reserve gets room to cut and mortgage rates can finally come down. Oil at $120 is a very different conversation for the housing market.

CHAPTERS

00:00 Oil Just Broke $90 — Here's Why That Hits Your Rate

00:39 The Chart I Check Every Morning Before Quoting a Rate

01:21 What the Federal Reserve Actually Watches

01:46 Inflation at 3.7% When the Target Is 2%

01:59 The Data This Week That Can Move Mortgage Rates

02:40 103,000 Jobs Gone — And the Fed Says It Doesn't Care

04:06 The Jackson Hole Speech, Translated