Mortgage Rates Soar Amidst Economic Uncertainty and Debt Ceiling Gridlock.

Mortgage rates have surged past 7.1% for the first time since November, pricing out many homebuyers, especially those with limited budgets. Pending home sales and mortgage-purchase applications have declined, while new listings of homes for sale have dropped 24%. Despite this, many early-stage homebuyers remain committed, with Redfin's Homebuyer Demand Index increasing from a week earlier. The median home sale price was $375,750, down 2.2% from a year earlier, while the median asking price of newly listed homes was $398,975, down 0.2% from a year earlier.