"At a Glance" Local Housing STATS and News 07/21/26

30-Year Fixed: 6.71%  |  15-Year Fixed: 6.18%

The daily 30-year fixed nudged up to 6.71% and the 15-year to 6.18%, both a touch firmer than yesterday. Small moves, but they land on budgets that were already stretched.

Two national threads are worth watching. First, where you shop matters more than ever: sales of homes under $350,000 are down 7.2% this year, with the South leading the drop while parts of the Northeast are still seeing prices rise. The starter rung is not one national market anymore, it is a patchwork. Second, a wave of new AI brokerages is trying to slash the standard 3% commission and hand buyers cash back, which on a $500,000 home could mean around $10,000 toward a smaller down payment or closing costs.

Today’s live board across our five focus cities shows 728 homes a buyer can actually pursue right now, including 68 brand new listings and 94 more coming soon. The full, always-updating ledger lives at harvrealtor.net/live-inventory.

Today’s Live Inventory (buyable now)

• Fremont: 280 available (206 active, 35 new, 37 coming soon)
• Hayward: 206 available (173 active, 15 new, 17 coming soon)
• Milpitas: 107 available (79 active, 5 new, 23 coming soon)
• Newark: 79 available (64 active, 5 new, 9 coming soon)
• Union City: 56 available (40 active, 8 new, 8 coming soon)

S&P 500: 7,443 ▼ 0.19%  |  DOW: 51,839 ▼ 0.59%  |  NASDAQ: 25,508 ▼ 0.05%

Stocks drifted lower to start the week, with the DOW off 0.59% to 51,839, the S&P 500 down 0.19% to 7,443, and the NASDAQ nearly flat at 25,508. A judge put the $110 billion merger of Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery on hold after a review found it could hurt competition, pausing what would have been one of the largest media mergers ever.

In chips, AMD unveiled a large AI system called Helios and signed Microsoft as its first big customer, a direct swing at Nvidia, which still controls roughly 95% of the AI chip market. And Archer Aviation jumped almost 20% after unveiling a military drone with Anduril, a fresh lane for a company whose air taxi plans had stalled in certification limbo.

US 10-Year: 4.59% ▬ 0.00%  |  Gold: $4,054 ▲ 1.1%  |  Silver: $59.12 ▲ 4.9%  |  Brent: $88.45 ▼ 0.85%

Gas is back over $4. The national average for regular unleaded returned to about $4.00 a gallon, up from an early July dip near $3.78 and closing in on the spring high of $4.50. The squeeze is coming from two directions at once: tensions around Iran are pinching fuel supply, and there are not enough refineries to turn crude into gasoline fast enough.

Oddly, crude itself eased: Brent slipped 0.85% to $88.45, so the pressure at the pump is a refining story more than a barrel story right now. The metals ran the other way, hard. Silver spiked about 4.9% to $59.12 and gold added roughly 1.1% to $4,054 as investors weighed the odds of renewed peace talks. The 10-year Treasury sat still at 4.59%.

Why a gallon of gas matters to a homebuyer: it is one of the few prices households feel every single week, and it feeds the inflation read the Fed is watching, which is the same read that sets mortgage rates.

BTC: $65,318 ▲ 0.16%  |  ETH: $1,909 ▲ 0.30%  |  XRP: $1.12 ▲ 0.28%

Crypto had a quiet, green day, with Bitcoin up 0.16% to $65,318, Ether up 0.30% to $1,909, and XRP up 0.28% to $1.12. The policy news was louder than the tape: Russia is drafting a law that would allow only Bitcoin and Ether for legal crypto trading, since a proposed floor of a $65 billion market cap and five years of history rules almost everything else out. Meanwhile South Korea’s main stock index has been swinging harder than Bitcoin this year, with volatility above 60%, because two chip names make up more than half the index.

Disclaimer: The market data, rates, and information provided are for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial advice. Always verify rates and data with your lender or financial advisor before making any decisions.