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Today: 30-year mortgage rates hit 7.61%, bond markets offered no clear catalyst for the move, and Capitol Hill floated a "ROAD 2.0" housing bill aimed at faster, cheaper construction through transit-oriented development and federal land conversion.
Mortgage rates climbed to 7.61% on the top-tier 30-year fixed product, matching the recent high from last week. The uptick came without an obvious catalyst. Bond markets sold off, but economic data (ISM non-manufacturing at 54.9, in line with expectations) didn't justify the weakness. The 10-year Treasury yield closed at 5.31%, up from 5.30% the prior session.
For Columbia buyers, this reinforces the case for negotiating purchase price and seller concessions now rather than waiting for rate relief. A $400,000 home at 7.61% carries higher monthly costs than the same home at 7.0%, but today's market offers leverage that may disappear if rates fall and competition returns. Buyers who can lock in price reductions, closing cost credits, or rate buydown funds from sellers are building in value that a refinance later cannot recapture. Watch for homes that recently fell out of contract. Sellers who thought they were done may be more flexible on price or concessions if they've already purchased their next property.
Rate lock floats remain risky. Until the 10-year yield finds a floor that attracts long-term investment buyers (not just tactical trades), the trend is not your friend. If you're mid-transaction, lock and move forward.
Mortgage Rates Inch Up to Another Recent High
Lawmakers on Capitol Hill are drafting a "ROAD 2.0" housing bill to expand on the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act. The 95-page proposal includes three levers relevant to deal sourcing:
Right to Build Zones: Areas where housing gains by-right approval if it meets standardized zoning and permitting rules. Municipalities that establish these zones would receive federal payments for each home completed above recent construction baselines, roughly equivalent to impact fees.
Transit-oriented development incentives: Federal transit grants and financing would flow to communities that adopt pro-housing zoning near major transit stops. The Build More Housing Near Transit Act, which didn't make the final ROAD bill, would have directed dollars to localities allowing by-right multifamily near transit corridors.
Federal property conversion: GSA and USPS sites could be opened for housing development, potentially creating hundreds of thousands of new homes.
For Richland County, watch how these proposals trickle down to local land use decisions. If Columbia adopts similar zoning reforms or fast-tracks approvals near transit corridors, builders and investors will have clearer paths to development deals. Any shift toward by-right approval reduces entitlement risk and timeline uncertainty. That matters for construction-to-permanent financing, builder lot acquisition, and adaptive reuse plays. Federal incentives could also open underutilized parcels near Fort Jackson or USC for workforce housing.
Lawmakers float a housing 2.0 push to build faster and cheaper
Affordable housing capital stacks are tightening, and ground lease structures are filling persistent gaps in deal financing. Safehold, a REIT that owns land under developments, closed over 25 ground leases on 4% Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) projects in California alone, with expansion into Texas, the Southeast, and Mid-Atlantic. The 99-year ground lease model provides low-cost capital at a premium to land value, increasing proceeds by 10-20% for developers while lowering blended cost of capital.
The structure works where elevated construction costs and higher interest rates create gaps that traditional debt and tax credit equity can't cover alone. For Columbia investors evaluating affordable or workforce housing plays, this is a financing tool to understand. If a LIHTC project pencils at 90% but needs another 10-15% to close, a ground lease can bridge that gap without diluting equity or layering expensive mezzanine debt. Richland County has persistent demand for affordable housing near Fort Jackson and USC. Developers who can structure deals with LIHTC, conventional debt, and a ground lease component may unlock projects that would otherwise stall.
Steve Wylder On Safehold's Plan to Fill Affordable Housing Capital Gaps
A $95 million construction loan closed for a 667-bed student housing tower at Oregon State University. The project, Zev Corvallis, is a 13-story, 262-unit complex scheduled for fall 2028 delivery. Affinius Capital provided the debt, citing growing enrollment and a lack of new high-rise student housing in the market.
For Columbia, the parallel is obvious. USC enrollment drives demand, and the pipeline for purpose-built student housing remains thin. Projects that deliver in 2028 will face a market with limited new supply if current building permit trends hold. Investors evaluating student housing deals near Five Points or the Vista should assess delivery timelines relative to competing projects. Off-campus housing that delivers before the next wave of supply can capture lease-up momentum and pricing power.
Affinius Capital Provides $95M Construction Loan for Oregon State Student Housing
California Regional MLS (CRMLS) filed suit in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York seeking a declaratory judgment that its cooperation rules are lawful and procompetitive. The filing follows a demand letter from Compass alleging that CRMLS rules violate antitrust law. Compass wants to publicly market listings to select audiences without entering them into the MLS while still accessing other brokers' listings and MLS data. CRMLS argues Compass is trying to free-ride on the cooperative marketplace.
This is a watch item for Columbia agents and brokers. If Compass prevails, brokerages could selectively withhold publicly marketed listings from the MLS while still consuming MLS data for buyer clients. That creates information asymmetry and undermines the cooperative model that gives buyers and their agents equal access to inventory. South Carolina agents should track how this plays out. MLS cooperation rules are the backbone of transparent markets. Any erosion of those rules shifts leverage toward large brokerages that control inventory and away from independent agents and smaller firms.
CRMLS moves first, asking court to block Compass antitrust claims
Uniform Appraisal Dataset 3.6 becomes mandatory for all new appraisals submitted to the Uniform Collateral Data Portal beginning November 2. Any UAD 2.6 submission after that date will receive a fatal error and "Not Successful" status. Lenders need to confirm end-to-end readiness across ordering systems, appraiser capability, file packaging, quality control, delivery workflows, and downstream consumption. The mandate is based on the appraisal report's initial UCDP submission date, not the loan application date or appraisal order date. That means loans already in process can cross the November 2 boundary. Lenders should map the cutover by submission date and establish clear rules for ordering, escalation, receipt, review, and initial UCDP submission.
For Columbia lenders and brokers, this is not a future-state problem. It's a this-month problem. If you're working with borrowers on loans that will close in November or later, confirm that your appraisal management company and underwriting teams are UAD 3.6 ready. A UAD 2.6 appraisal that hasn't been submitted to UCDP before November 2 cannot be entered afterward as a new submission. That creates a hard deadline for appraisals ordered but not yet delivered. Don't let a compliance technicality delay a closing.
UAD 3.6 is almost here. Lenders need to move from awareness to production.