30-Year Mortgage Rate (Freddie Mac PMMS)

6.69% ↑ 3 bps, 5th straight week up

Daily rate (MND)

6.67% easing on Iran calm

What that means on a $400K loan (P&I)

~$2,578/mo +$24/mo vs. two months ago

10-Year Treasury (CNBC)

4.65% 30-yr yield near 2-decade high

ADP private payrolls (July)

+44,000 weakest monthly gain since January

🚨 SAME-DAY: BLS Jobs Report drops at 8:30 AM ET today

2.5 hours after this hits your inbox. Consensus is 83,000 to 90,000 new jobs, unemployment holding at 4.2%. A weak print pulls rates lower fast. A hot print keeps them elevated. Either way, your clients will be doom-scrolling the news by lunch. Be one step ahead. Next big data: CPI on 8/12. Warsh's Jackson Hole speech on 8/27 is THE event since the Fed removed forward guidance.

Source: Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®), week ending 8/6/2026. Daily rate from Mortgage News Daily. Treasury yield data from CNBC. Employment data from the ADP National Employment Report, July 2026 release, published 8/5/2026. Rates shown are national averages for a conforming 30-year fixed-rate mortgage and do not represent a personal rate quote or offer to lend. Payment example assumes a $400,000 loan amount, 30-year fixed term, 20% down payment, and does not include taxes, insurance, or PMI. Your actual rate, payment, and costs may vary based on your financial profile. Rate ≠ APR. Not all applicants will qualify.

Call: Buyer shopping 3+ months who has not written an offer yet (question-first)

"Hey [name], can I ask you a real question? When we first started looking, what were you actually waiting to see happen before you felt ready to write an offer? I ask because we are 3 or 4 months into this and I am not sure whether we are close, or whether the goalposts moved on us and we should say so out loud. I do not want to keep sending you houses if the real answer is that you are not sure you want to buy this year. And I do not want you to sit on the sidelines for another 3 months if a real offer would actually make sense. Grab 30 minutes with me this weekend and let's just be honest about where you are?"

Call: Homeowner whose neighbor just took a price cut (data-first)

"Hey [name], reaching out because I saw [address] took a price cut this week. Not the news I want to be the one to tell you, but I would rather you hear it from me than notice it yourself and wonder what it means for your place. National data says roughly 1 in 3 listings is taking a cut right now. That does not mean your house needs one. It does mean the market is telling us something and we should look at your actual number before more homes on your street start reducing. Coffee this weekend and I will bring the specific comps for your zip code?"

Hey [name], honest check-in. Are you still thinking about buying this year, or has it moved to next year in your head? No wrong answer. I just want to know so I can actually be useful. 20 min this weekend?

Hey [name], quick one. If you have not done the actual math on renting vs. buying in the last 6 months, it is worth 20 minutes. My lender can pull the real number for a comparable house so you can decide with information instead of a guess. Coffee this month?

[name], long overdue hello. Not reaching out about anything specific. Just wanted to check in on you and the family and see how the house is treating you. If anything real estate related is on your mind lately, I am here for it. Otherwise, just a wave.

Hey [name], if a fall listing has been in the back of your mind, worth a quick coffee this month. Pricing conversations are the whole ballgame right now, and getting your number right the first time matters more than it used to. Not a pitch, just the honest read.

Group 1: Every buyer who paused in the last 60 days waiting for rate relief.

The math to bring: A buyer looking at a $400K loan two months ago was quoted around 6.60 percent, roughly $2,555 a month. Same loan today is 6.69 percent, roughly $2,578 a month. That is $24 a month more, or about $286 for the first year, or close to $8,500 over 30 years. Not a disaster. Not free either.

What to say: "You may have made the right call to wait. You may have not. Let's stop guessing and look at the actual numbers so we can decide from here."

Group 2: Every buyer who has been shopping 3+ months but has not written an offer.

The honest read: These buyers were technically "in market" this whole time. But something has been stopping them. Sometimes it is the payment. Sometimes it is the house. Sometimes it is just the fear of the decision. All three are fixable if you name them out loud.

What to say: "Can I ask you what you are actually waiting to see before you feel ready? I am not sure whether we are close to writing an offer or whether the plan has changed on us. Either is fine, but let's be honest about it."

Group 3: Every homeowner whose neighbor's house just took a price cut.

The market context: Roughly 1 in 3 listings nationally is taking a price cut right now, and pending sales just hit a 5-month low. If a home on their block just dropped, they are already doing dinner-table math about their own place. Beat them to the conversation.

What to say: "I saw [address] took a cut this week. I would rather you hear the market read from me than piece it together yourself. I will pull your actual comps and we can decide from there."

If you have been telling yourself "I will make a move when things settle down," here is the honest read from someone who watches this market every day.

Nothing is settling down. Rates went up again this week. The job market is softening in ways nobody is quite sure how to read yet. The Fed just told everyone to stop expecting them to send signals. This is what "the situation" is going to look like for a while.

That does not mean you should rush. It also does not mean you should keep waiting for a moment that is not coming. It means you should stop guessing and look at the actual numbers for your actual situation.

Text me. 20 minutes on a call. My lender pulls the real math for the house or the plan you have been thinking about. You leave the conversation knowing exactly where you stand. Whether you decide to do anything or not, that is a win.

Market Note — August 7, 2026

Quick note if you own a home or have been thinking about buying one. Here is what actually happened this week and what it means for you.

Rates went up for the 5th week in a row. Not a big jump each week, but they are steadily climbing. The Federal Reserve made it clear at their meeting last week that they are not planning to lower rates in the near term. If you have been waiting for the Fed to make things cheaper before you make a decision, that is not a plan that is going to pay off in the next 60 days.

The job market is showing signs of softening. Private companies added only 44,000 jobs in July, well below what economists were expecting. That does not mean anyone is in trouble. It means the picture is more mixed than the news is telling you.

Home prices are getting more negotiable in a lot of markets. Roughly 1 in 3 listings nationally took a price cut in the last month, and the number of buyers actively shopping is at a 5-month low. If you are a buyer, that is more room to negotiate than you had in the spring. If you are a seller, it means pricing right the first time matters more than it did 6 months ago.

Whichever side of this you are on, hit reply. My team can pull the real numbers for your specific address or situation in about 20 minutes. Not a sales call. Just the honest picture so you can decide from there.

Better to make a real decision with real information than a good guess.

This is a general market overview based on national averages from the Freddie Mac PMMS® week ending 8/6/2026, the ADP National Employment Report (July 2026), the Mortgage Bankers Association Weekly Applications Survey (week ending 7/31/2026), and Redfin housing market data. Not an offer to lend and not a personal home valuation. Cole Brantley, NMLS# 1905939. Mpire Financial, NMLS# 2108504. Equal Housing Lender.

🍽 Next Lunch & Leads

Open Office Hours + Newsletter Showcase

Thursday, August 13 at 12 PM ET. Bring your questions, your stuck spots, and the tools you want help with. I will also do another walkthrough of building your own agent newsletter for the folks who missed the first session. Bring lunch. Free to join.

Grab Your Seat →

This week's question

"What is this week's Freddie Mac 30-year mortgage rate?"

Text the answer to

(813) 579-8812

First 5 correct answers before 12:00 PM ET today win. One entry per agent.

1. Reach out to me first

Text, email, or call me with the client's info and any notes about their situation. More context up front means better first conversation.

2. Introduce us in a 3-way text

Example: "Hey [name], this is Cole Brantley, the mortgage broker I told you about. He's going to reach out to set up a time to talk through your options."

3. I take it from there

I reach out 7 times over 4 days with calls and texts to set a consultation. After every conversation, you get a recap of where things stand and what's next.

4. Long-term follow-up (no one gets forgotten)

If the client doesn't respond after the first week, they move to biweekly follow-up from my call center team. No lead dropped. Lower-intent client? Just note it up front and we match whatever cadence you want.

🧠 Weird Stat of the Week

Inflation-adjusted wages declined 0.4 percent over the past year according to the Q2 Employment Cost Index. Nominal paychecks are growing. Real purchasing power is shrinking. Your database is feeling this whether they are talking about it or not. The agent who understands the squeeze without making it awkward is the agent people call.