The Quick Read: As of September 28, 2026, a home for sale is competing with discounted new construction. NAR’s August report showed existing-home sales below a 4 million pace and the most months of supply in over a decade. NAHB’s September survey showed builders leaning hard on price cuts and incentives. A good exterior is one of the more affordable ways to stand out in that field. If you plan to pay for it with equity, mind how the loan is priced.
Key Takeaways
- NAR reported on September 10 that August existing-home sales ran at a 3.98 million annual pace, with months of supply at 4.9.
- NAHB’s September survey, released September 16, found 66% of builders using incentives and 38% cutting prices. Incentives are at the highest share since December. Price cuts are at an eight-month high.
- Freddie Mac’s survey put the 30-year fixed at 7.03% for the week of September 24. That is a long way up from 6.76% two weeks earlier.
- Curb appeal is my inference, not a sourced finding. I found no dated data tying exterior work to sale outcomes. The logic is simple, though: when buyers have choices, first impressions do more work.
- Record equity is a second-quarter figure. Before you borrow against it, weigh how the loan is priced and how you will use the money.
What Changed This Month
The resale market got slower and more crowded. NAR’s August report, released September 10, put existing-home sales at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.98 million. That is down 2.0% from July. It was the first reading below 4.0 million since June 2025.
Supply moved the other way. Inventory hit 1.62 million units, the first time above 1.6 million since November 2019. Months of supply rose to 4.9 from 4.6 in July. NAR’s chief economist called that the highest in over ten years. The same release put the median price at $429,100, up 1.6% from a year earlier. NAR’s housing snapshot page confirms the main figures.
Prices are not collapsing. Sales are slow and the shelves are fuller. That mix is what pushes sellers to compete on presentation.
Builders are discounting harder. In the NAHB/Wells Fargo survey released September 16, builder confidence fell 3 points to 32. Thirty-eight percent of builders cut prices, up from 35% in August. The average cut was 6%, unchanged for a sixth straight month. Sixty-six percent used sales incentives, up from 63% in August.
I want to be precise here, because the headlines often are not. Two-thirds of builders using incentives is the highest share since December, when it was 67%. It is not a record. MarketWatch, via Yahoo Finance, called the price-cut share the highest in eight months. The picture is firm, but “highest in years” overstates it.
Homes.com reported the common incentives on September 16: rate buydowns, design upgrades and straight discounts. HousingWire reported the same day that the discounts are not unlocking demand.
Borrowing costs kept climbing. Freddie Mac’s survey put the 30-year fixed at 6.76% for the week of September 10, 6.95% for the week of September 17 and 7.03% for the week of September 24, per its weekly releases. The 30-year average crossed 7% for the first time in that run. The MBA’s weekly survey, released September 23, put its own 30-year contract rate at 7.12% for the week ending September 18, the highest since May 2024. Those two measures differ by design, so I name the publisher every time.
The yield that mortgage rates track also moved. The 10-year Treasury closed at 5.11% on September 23.
What About the Fed’s Hike?
The Fed raised its target range by 25 basis points on September 16. The Federal Reserve’s implementation note puts the range at 3.75% to 4.00%. The Atlanta Fed’s FOMC page confirms the same range.
Do not read the hike as the thing that set your mortgage rate. Fixed mortgage rates follow longer-term yields, not the Fed’s target directly. The 30-year average was already climbing before the meeting. Bond-market moves, oil and inflation worries all got blamed in the coverage I reviewed. August core PCE inflation came in at 3.0% year over year, per CNBC, lighter than forecast.
The hike matters most for borrowing that floats. Many home equity lines carry a variable rate that can move when short-term rates move. That is a general mechanic. The data I’m citing does not measure how HELOC pricing has behaved since September 16, so I won’t claim it has gone one way or the other.
What Does This Mean for Homeowners With Equity?
You hold a lot of equity, and most of it is on paper. ICE’s August Mortgage Monitor, dated August 10, put mortgage-holder equity at a record $18 trillion in the second quarter. It put tappable equity at $11.7 trillion across 47.5 million holders. Tappable equity is the amount you could borrow against while leaving a cushion in the home.
That is a second-quarter number. It is not a September number. ICE’s September Mortgage Monitor, dated September 10, showed August home-price growth of 1.5% annually, the sixth straight month of acceleration. ICE also said seasonally adjusted gains are cooling. Equity is high. It is not rising at the pace it did.
Here is the lock-in logic behind how owners have been borrowing. ICE’s June report found that 54% of first-quarter equity extraction came through second liens. Second-lien withdrawals hit an 18-year high for a first quarter. Borrowers were keeping the low first-mortgage rates they already had. A second lien is a separate loan secured by the home, such as a HELOC or a home equity loan, that sits behind the first mortgage.
Higher rates should strengthen that preference. Why give up an older first mortgage to borrow against equity when a second loan leaves it alone? A separate ICE data point from September 28 fits the story: prepayment speeds fell to a 17-month low as rates rose.
The pain is on the buyer side. The MBA’s September 23 release showed refinance applications 62% below a year earlier for the week ending September 18. Purchase applications were 11% below a year earlier on an unadjusted basis. Buyers who stay in the market have more choices and more negotiating room, and NAR’s chief economist said as much on September 10. Sellers have to earn the showing.
Why Curb Appeal Moves Up the List
A buyer who has choices screens harder. That is my read, and it is not sourced. When a buyer can tour discounted new construction with rate buydowns attached, a tired exterior loses the showing before the door opens. A fresh entry, clean lines and tidy landscaping tell a buyer the owner cared. They also cost far less than a price cut.
Think about the math of the alternative. NAHB says the average builder price cut is 6%. A seller who matches that cut gives up a slice of the price. Exterior work is a one-time spend, and it does not reset the comparable sales around your street.
This isn’t a promise that paint and mulch return their cost. I found no dated, sourced data linking exterior upgrades to sale outcomes. Treat curb appeal as a way to stand out, not as an investment with a guaranteed payoff.
New construction is not winning the war on its own. Census data for August put new-home sales at 684,000 annualized, up 6.4% from July. The Census Bureau noted a wide margin of error, so that monthly gain is statistically weak. The Census release, dated September 24, also counted 483,000 new houses for sale at the end of August. Builders have plenty to move, and they will keep dangling incentives.
NAR also said its existing-home count and the Census count can diverge. NAR counts closings while Census counts contracts. Don’t treat the two as one story.
Existing homes have an edge builders can’t copy. Established lots, mature trees and finished neighborhoods are things a new subdivision lacks. A good exterior makes that visible. A neglected one hides it. That is the argument for spending a modest amount where buyers look first.
My Take
I think the ones who benefit most from this market are sellers who act like the competition is real. It is. Builders are offering buydowns on a loan product the seller cannot match, so the seller has to win on the house.
I also think owners should keep two decisions apart. One is whether the house is ready to show. The other is how to pay for getting it ready. Mixing them is how people end up with a variable-rate balance for a landscaping project they could have scaled back.
Here’s where I land. If you are selling, fix what buyers see first and keep the budget modest. If you are not selling, you have no deadline. Your equity is not going anywhere, and the lock-in data suggests most owners are patient about it.
Honestly, this one is close to a toss-up for a lot of households. A paid-off project at the front door is a small number next to a transaction this size. But a loan that floats in a rising-rate month is a risk worth sizing before you sign.
What I’d Do Now
Start with a plain budget for the exterior. List the visible items: front door, house numbers, lighting, walkway, lawn and beds, siding and trim. Fix the worst two or three. Stop there unless a real estate agent in your area says otherwise.
Price your own cash against borrowed cash. If you have savings earmarked for this, using them avoids a new loan entirely. If you borrow, compare structures. A HELOC is a revolving line you draw on. A home equity loan is a lump sum with a set structure. The right fit depends on whether you want flexibility or certainty. Our HELOC programs page carries the current guidelines. Eligibility is subject to lender guidelines, your credit profile and a property review.
Understand what floats. Ask any lender whether the rate on a line can change, what it is tied to and how often it adjusts. Hypothetically, if a variable rate moves from 8% to 9%, the cost of carrying a balance rises by a full point. Ask for the answer in writing.
Don’t compare quotes from different days. Rates have been moving every day, and the weekly surveys move at different times. A quote gathered Monday and one gathered Friday are not comparable. If you plan to refinance or buy and like a quote, lock it. A lock holds the quoted terms for the period you agree to. Floating means you are betting the market won’t move against you, and September showed how that can go.
Mind the rental side if you own investment property. Investors with equity face the same question about how to pay for improvements. For a property that rents, our DSCR loans guide explains how those loans qualify on the property’s rental income rather than on your paycheck.
If you’re weighing a purchase or a refinance this fall, Lendmire can walk you through how the current programs fit your file.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is curb appeal really worth the money right now?
It can help, but I can’t prove the payoff. I found no dated, sourced data tying exterior work to sale results. The case rests on logic: NAR’s September 10 report shows 4.9 months of supply, and NAHB’s September 16 survey shows builders discounting. Buyers have more choices, and the first impression decides which house they tour. Keep the spend modest and aimed at what shows from the street.
Did the Fed’s September hike push mortgage rates up?
Not directly. The Fed raised its target range by 25 basis points on September 16, per its implementation note. Fixed mortgage rates follow longer-term yields, and the 30-year average was already rising before that meeting. Freddie Mac’s survey showed 6.95% for the week of September 17 and 7.03% for the week of September 24. Floating-rate borrowing, such as many HELOCs, can respond more to short-term rates.
Are builder incentives at a record high?
No. NAHB’s September survey found 66% of builders using incentives. That is the highest since December, when it was 67%, and up from 63% in August. The share of builders cutting prices, at 38%, is the highest in eight months. The pressure is real, but “record” is not accurate.
Should I tap my home equity because the number is a record?
Not because of the headline alone. ICE’s $11.7 trillion tappable-equity figure is from the second quarter, reported August 10. ICE’s September report says price gains are cooling. Borrow against equity only for a clear purpose, and compare how each structure prices and adjusts. Everything is subject to lender guidelines and your own file.
Why do Freddie Mac, the MBA and Mortgage News Daily show different mortgage benchmarks?
They measure different things on different schedules. Freddie Mac’s survey is a weekly average. The MBA publishes its own 30-year contract measure from its applications survey. Mortgage News Daily publishes a daily index. For the week of September 17, Freddie Mac’s reading and the MBA’s reading for the week ending September 18 did not match, which is what you would expect from different methods and timing. I name the publisher whenever I cite one.
About Lendmire
Lendmire, NMLS# 2371349, is a mortgage broker with two platforms: DSCR investor lending across 41 markets, including Washington, D.C., and consumer mortgage programs in 16 states, all arranged through wholesale lending partners. This column is written by Lendmire’s founder and reflects the market as of its publication date; program terms and availability are set by the lender on each file. Scotsman Guide named Lendmire a Top Mortgage Workplace in both 2025 and 2026.
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References
1. NAR existing-home sales housing snapshot
2. NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (September 16, 2026)
3. MarketWatch via Yahoo Finance on builder price cuts (September 17, 2026)
4. Homes.com on builder incentives (September 16, 2026)
5. HousingWire on builder discounts (September 16, 2026)
6. Federal Reserve implementation note (September 16, 2026)
7. Atlanta Fed FOMC statement page (September 16, 2026)
8. CNBC on Treasury yields and core PCE (September 30, 2026)
9. ICE Mortgage Monitor on home equity withdrawals (June 8, 2026)
10. Census Bureau new residential sales (September 24, 2026)
This article is part of Lendmire’s Mortgage News series — every loan program’s qualification details, guidelines, and scenarios live on the loan options page.
Related reading: Curb Appeal For Sellers In September 2026: Supply Is Up, Buyers Have Leverage · The Value Of Hardscaping In A September 2026 Market With More Listings · Marketing Your Home In September 2026 As Supply Climbs And Buyers Gain Leverage
Brandon Miller
Founder & CEO, Mortgage Loan Originator, Lendmire LLC
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Required disclosures. Lendmire (NMLS# 2371349) operates as a licensed mortgage broker, not a direct lender or depository. The discussion in this article is general in nature and should not be relied upon as financial, legal, or tax advice — every investment scenario is unique and should be reviewed by a qualified professional. Any loan inquiry is subject to lender underwriting, and this article is not a commitment to lend or a guarantee of approval. Mortgage rates, loan terms, and program guidelines vary by borrower, property, and state, and may change without notice. Equal Housing Opportunity. Verify licensure at NMLS Consumer Access.