Has Broader Stock Market Participation Changed How Interest Rates Affect the Economy?
Federal Reserve Bank of New York
Read the original reporting
This headline was published by Federal Reserve Bank of New York on Aug 19, 2026. The full source article is available from the publisher. Our historical market context appears below so you can place the release alongside mortgage and Treasury observations.
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MortgageRates.news analysis · Historical context
The mortgage market around this release
This original analysis is separate from the source article. It compares observed benchmarks around ; historical averages and yields are not current mortgage offers.
Distinguish research commentary from a policy announcement
Liberty Street Economics explains research on financial markets, households and the economy. A post is not an FOMC announcement or an individualized financing recommendation. Check the authors’ data period, definitions and qualifications, and open the linked research when a conclusion depends on a model or particular sample. The historical benchmarks below describe the calendar around the post’s publication, which can differ from the period examined in the research. Their movements do not establish that the post caused a change in mortgage rates. New York Fed: Liberty Street Economics.
Nearest published observation on or before each target date
Calendar references, not an intraday reaction. A same-day market observation may have been published after a morning release. These figures do not show what was known at its exact publication time. One basis point (bp) is 0.01 percentage point; changes use the actual dated observations shown.
Dots show published observations only. Missing dates remain blank, with no interpolation. The future portion of the window has no observations. The series have different publication schedules and measure different markets.
What that benchmark difference would mean for a $300,000 loan
At the publication reference$1,929.87/month
6.67% · Aug 13, 2026
At the later reference$1,985.84/month
6.95% · Sep 17, 2026
The illustrative principal-and-interest payment is $55.98 higher per month. This holds the loan amount and term constant to show the arithmetic effect of the benchmark difference.
Assumptions: two separate hypothetical $300,000 loans, each fully amortizing over 30 years with 360 monthly payments and its stated fixed interest rate. Excludes points, lender fees, taxes, insurance, association charges and other costs. PMMS is a national average, not an APR or a personalized rate offer. These are not two payments on one existing loan.
Sources, historical coverage and calculation limits
Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey®: available observations from Apr 2, 1971 through Nov 5, 2026. Cached history snapshot. History retrieved or verified Nov 11, 2026.
U.S. Department of the Treasury: available observations from Jan 4, 2016 through Nov 10, 2026. Cached history snapshot. History retrieved or verified Nov 11, 2026.
The 30-day comparisons use calendar days. Each cell selects the last published observation on or before its target; no rates are synthesized for missing dates. Gaps greater than seven days for daily Treasury data or fourteen days for weekly mortgage data are marked unavailable. Forward comparisons require the date to have arrived and source coverage to extend through it.
Historical files may contain revisions and do not reconstruct precisely what every market participant knew at the time. Freddie Mac changed its PMMS collection methodology in November 2022. Cross-period comparisons should account for that change. These windows include other news and cannot establish causation or forecast the next rate move.