Straight talk on mortgages from a loan officer who's done it for 10+ years.
Two things are true about the housing market right now, and they're pulling in opposite directions. Mortgage rates just hit their highest level in a year, some trackers put the 30-year near 7.5%, driven by an oil price spike tied to the conflict in the Middle East and inflation that won't cool off. At the same time, buyers are backing away in response, and that's opening up real leverage for anyone who's still able to buy.
Manchester-Nashua has spent much of 2026 bouncing between the #1 and #2 spots on Realtor.com's national hottest-markets ranking, and if you've been trying to buy anywhere in Southern New Hampshire this year, that statistic probably doesn't surprise you. What it might not tell you is how much winning a home here actually depends on strategy rather than luck, and that strategy looks different in Manchester than it does in Nashua or Salem.
A lot of buyers are waiting right now. They’re waiting for rates to drop, waiting for the “right time,” or waiting for things to feel more stable before making a move. On the surface, that sounds smart. In reality, it’s not always working in their favor.
Rates moved again this week, and that’s usually when the same questions start coming up.
Everyone keeps asking the same question right now:
If you’ve been watching mortgage rates lately, you’ve probably noticed they haven’t been stable.
Most people buying or refinancing a home end up with what the mortgage industry calls a qualified mortgage, or QM. These are loans that meet the underwriting guidelines set by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, the FHA, or the VA. They are standardized, well-understood, and the lenders who make them can sell them into the secondary market. For the majority of borrowers with steady W-2 income, decent credit, and manageable debt levels, a qualified mortgage is the right tool. But a significant portion of creditworthy borrowers do not fit neatly into that box. Non-QM loans exist for them.
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