Columbia, SC Real Estate Brief

Today: The 30-year fixed hit 7.40% on Oct. 8 (Freddie Mac via NAHB), the highest since November 2023, and Mortgage News Daily's top-tier daily index sits at 7.59%. The Fed hiked 25 bps in September to 3.75%-4%, so the rate pressure is policy-driven, not a blip. Re-qualify every pending buyer in your pipeline this week and lock anyone closing inside 45 days.

Market Pulse

• Rates are at a 2023-level high and still climbing. Freddie Mac's 30-year fixed averaged 6.86% in September, up nearly 20 bps (basis points, hundredths of a percent) from August and 51 bps from a year ago. It closed September at 7.03%, hit 7.28% on Oct. 1 and 7.40% on Oct. 8, a seventh straight weekly rise. The 15-year averaged 6.73% on Oct. 8, versus 5.53% a year earlier. NAHB
• Action: Buyers who qualified at 6.5% to 6.9% have lost purchasing power. Pull payment scenarios at 7.4% for every active buyer and pending contract. Anyone within a few points of their DTI (debt-to-income) ceiling needs a lender conversation now, not at the appraisal. Push lock-in on all deals closing within 45 days.

• Sellers: Price to the new payment, not last quarter's comps. Expect longer DOM (Days on Market) and more concession requests, especially on entry-level Lexington and Richland County listings where buyers are payment-sensitive. Rate buydowns funded by the seller are the cheapest way to keep a deal alive.

• Daily volatility is extreme, so lock timing matters. Mortgage News Daily reported opening rate sheets on Oct. 7 that would have put top-tier 30-year fixed rates over 7.7%, before a bond rally pulled the day's average to 7.59%, up only 0.03% on the day. The 10-year Treasury pushed to new long-term highs just over 5.36% in the morning before recovering. MND rates, MND MBS recap

• Action: Do not assume a morning quote holds. Ask lenders for intraday repricing and float-down options. A 30-minute swing of this size can cost a buyer 0.1% or more on a rate lock.

• The driver is long-term yields, which means no near-term relief. The 10-year averaged 4.94% in September and topped 5% late in the month, pushed by oil prices, geopolitical tension, the federal deficit, and AI capital demand. NAHB's chief economist called the surge "a warning signal for 2027." NAHB

• Action: Stop telling clients to wait for rates to fall. The Fed is hiking, not cutting. Buyers with a real need to move should buy now and plan to refinance later only if conditions change. Investors should underwrite at 7.5%+ financing costs.

Property Management & Rentals

• Higher rates push more would-be buyers into renting. At 7.4%, the monthly cost gap between owning and renting widens for Midlands households. That supports rental demand and rent growth for well-located single-family and small multifamily units. This is an inference from the rate data above; no local rent figures were in today's sources.

• Action: Landlords with leases expiring in the next 90 days have pricing leverage on renewals. Review rents against current comps rather than defaulting to flat renewals.

• Winterize now to protect insurance coverage. BiggerPockets warns that frozen pipe damage can become a denied claim if a policy requires documented winterization or heat maintenance. BiggerPockets

• Action: Before November, check vacant units for heat settings, insulate exposed pipes, and review each policy's vacancy and freeze clauses. Keep dated photos and work orders on file. Midlands freezes are infrequent but happen, and a denied claim on a vacant student rental is expensive.

• Short-term rental owners should verify coverage type. A homeowner or landlord policy often does not cover STR (short-term rental) operations. BiggerPockets

• Action: If you or a client rents by the night near Five Points, the Vista, or Fort Jackson, confirm in writing that the policy covers paid guests, liability, and loss of income.

Industry & Legal

• NAR won again in the Muhammad case. An appellate court affirmed NAR's win. The source gave only the headline, so details of the ruling are not confirmed. NAR
• Action: Read the full opinion before changing any client-facing language. No practice change is warranted from a headline alone.

Skipped as irrelevant to the Midlands: Tyler, Texas building permits, Redfin's micro-moving piece, NAHB's two-story foyer data, and the HelloNation preventive-care item (no actionable content in the excerpt).