Across the United States, the cost of borrowing a home has climbed to its highest point in over a year, with mortgage rates pressing against the 7% threshold — a number that carries both mathematical and psychological weight. The response has been swift and measurable: nearly one in five prospective buyers who were in the market a year ago has stepped back, choosing to wait rather than commit to a generation-long financial obligation at elevated cost. This moment arrives as the Federal Reserve prepares its next moves on monetary policy, placing the housing market at the intersection of individ