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Benchmark Mortgage Rate Hits 3-Year Low

U.S.: The most-popular mortgage rate hit a three-year low in mid-January, dipping to 6.06%. That 30-year mortgage rate, preferred by most homebuyers, had been hovering around 6.20%. The 15-year mortgage rate also dropped, going from 5.64% to 5.38%. The Federal Reserve cut interest rates three times in 2025, but mortgage rates are mostly influenced by U.S. Treasury yields, the economy and mortgage securities demand. Although mortgage rates had been trending lower since the start of 2025, the Trump administration announced earlier in this month that it would seek to buy $200 billion in mortgage securities. The last time mortgage rates were this low was in September 2022 when the 30-year rate was just over 6% after historic lows during the pandemic. 

U.S.: Those lower mortgage rates throughout 2025 help push sales across the country. The National Association of Realtors announced that pre-existing home sales were up 5.1% in December from November, and about 1.4% from December 2024. Although home prices continued to rise, more homes on the market led to slower price growth in many parts of the country. The median price for a pre-existing home rose slightly to an average of $405,400. The NAR forecasts that more than 5 million potential buyers could come off the sidelines in 2026 as mortgage rates are expected to remain just above 6% throughout the year. 

DFW: Big news this week at Allie Beth Allman & Associates. The luxury real estate leader in Dallas reported a record $4 billion in sales in 2025. And Keith Conlon, who has led the company as president and CEO since 2020, announced he has taken an equity stake in the company. HomeServices of America bought the company from founder Allie Beth Allman in 2015, and she remained as president and CEO until 2020 when she handpicked Conlon to replace her. Conlon says his investment, coming on the heels of consolidation at other real estate companies nationwide, is intended to solidify local roots and to recruit and retain more agents for Dallas’ anticipated growth. Under Conlon’s leadership, the brokerage that has just under 400 agents has recorded more than $18 billion in sales since 2021. 

DFW: High Street Residential is moving ahead with a mixed-use project near Mockingbird Station, north of downtown Dallas and across U.S. 75 from Southern Methodist University. The seven-story building will include nearly 400 apartments of varying footprints and room configurations, plus underground parking for 500 vehicles that will be open to residents and the public around the Dallas Area Rapid Transit station and nearby retail center. The project from the Trammel Crow affiliate is valued at upwards of $80 million. 

DFW: It was a tough year for homebuilders in North Texas. Weaker job growth, higher prices and challenging market led to 12% fewer starts in 2025 compared to a year earlier. Residential Strategies Inc. also said that during the fourth quarter, DFW homebuilder started on 8,386 homes, down nearly 18% from the 10,190 starts in the same period in 2024. Job growth in North Texas in 2025 was around 18,000, down from the nearly 100,000 average yearly growth seen from 2013 to 2023.

FLORIDA: Sometimes you have to spend money to save money, especially if you’re a billionaire. Google co-founder Larry Page recently spent $173 billion on two properties in Coconut Grove, the upscale and historic neighborhood in Miami. He closed on the non-adjacent properties in the Sunshine State late last year, announcing his move from the Golden State ahead of a proposed 2026 Billionaire Tax Act. The proposed ballot measure, which still needs 90,000 signatures to get it on the November ballot, would levy a one-time 5% tax on billionaire residents as of January 1, 2026. As for the properties, he paid $101.5 million for a nearly 12,000-square-foot mansion on four acres. He paid another $71 million for a 10,000-square-foot home on Biscayne Bay. Page has a net worth of more than $270 billion. 

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