Global Housing's Rate Reckoning: Mortgage Squeeze Cracks Prices From London to Los Angeles

The housing market's rate-relief fantasy is officially dead. Fannie Mae slashed its mortgage rate outlook in August, now projecting the 30-year fixed rate to average well above its original 6% forecast for 2026, after the rate already climbed to 6.72% as of Aug. 19. Morgan Stanley delivered an even bleaker verdict: even if rates somehow dropped to 4%, monthly carrying costs would still stay above the affordability levels that defined the two decades before...