Dave Meyer, Henry Washington, James Dainard and Kathy Fettke review the week's housing headlines: hot inflation data, Fannie Mae's sharply higher mortgage rate forecast, rising delistings that hide shadow inventory, and eXp Realty's claim that the housing crash already happened in sales volume.
CPI rose 3.7% and wholesale prices jumped 1.3% in a month, driven by supply-side shocks, diesel, tariffs and AI spending that Fed hikes can't fix. Fannie Mae now projects 7.5% rates through 2027, so investors should underwrite to that, buy only great deals, and keep multiple exits. In Dallas, inventory is down 3.3% but buyers are down 32%. Existing sales sit near 4 million, with pending sales down about 10%; Dave expects national nominal prices to dip next year.