Mortgage rate locks fell 9% in August, Optimal Blue reports

Optimal Blue said August lock volume fell 9% from July and 3% from a year ago, with the 30-year rate at 6.72%. Mortgage activity weakened in August even as mortgage rates stabilized, with total rate-lock volume falling 9% from July and 3% from a year earlier, according to Optimal Blue ’s August 2026 Market Advantage report released Tuesday. Purchase lock volume declined 10% month over month but remained 6% above August 2025 levels [1].

Sources

1. housingwire.com · Mortgage rate locks fell 9% in August, Optimal Blue reports Sep 8, 2026

This is the neutral brief the press writes once, for everyone, before each reader’s paper adds its own so-what. It links out; it does not republish. 1 article clustered.

Print your own paper