Mortgage rates have moved within a narrow range for the past few months and this week is no different. Rate stability, improving inventory and slower house price growth are an encouraging combination this National Homeownership Month.

Primary Mortgage Market Survey®

U.S. weekly averages as of 06/12/2025:

30-Yr Fixed Rate Mortgage 6.84%

5-Yr Fixed Rate Mortgage 5.97%

Source: Freddie Mac.

An accessory dwelling unit, or ADU, is an independent, secondary housing unit that resides on a single-family lot. This is not your backyard shed or detached garage—but it could be. There are a few types of ADUs, but they all mainly fall into these three categories: detached, internal, and attached, according to the American Planning Association (APA).

A backyard shed or detached garage that's been converted into an ADU falls into the detached category. However, a detached ADU can be a new construction, too. It just needs to be able to stand alone.

U.S. Department of Agriculture today announced $23 million in grants to support transporting hazardous fuels – such as dead or downed trees – from national forests to processing facilities. Through the USDA Forest Service’s Hazardous Fuels Transportation Program, these grants will reduce the hazardous fuels that pose wildfire threats to communities, critical infrastructure and recreation areas.

Major Progress on Pro-Housing Bills.

Coming out of the first wave of committee hearings in the Legislature, nearly all of California YIMBY’s sponsored bills have advanced and several are now heading to Appropriations committees in both chambers.

Referred to Appropriations Committees:

SB 79 (Wiener): Will make it faster and easier to build multi-family housing near transit stops, like train and rapid bus lines, by making it legal for more homes to be built in these areas, and streamlining existing permit review processes.

Mortgage rates took a slide over the past week, according to Freddie Mac’s (OTCQB: FMCC) latest Primary Mortgage Market Survey.

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.78% as of July 20, down from last week when it averaged 6.96%.

The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.06%, down from last week when it averaged 6.30%.

Projects that recoup most or all of their cost, owners should think smaller, according to the newly released 2025 Remodeling Impact Report, conducted by the National Association of REALTORS® and the National Association of the Remodeling Industry.

The report revealed the following home remodeling projects may offer the highest returns, based on their estimated cost recovery at resale:

* New steel front door: 100% (estimated return based on upfront cost)

* Closet renovation: 83%

* New fiberglass front door: 80%

Streamlined approval process:

California law allows eligible housing developers to go through a streamlined approval process — including bypassing a review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) — permitting projects which meet local administratively objective zoning and design standards, provide a minimum percentage of low-income units and follow labor and wage requirements. [Calif. Government Code §65913.4]

Newly enacted legislation revises aspects of the streamlined approval process.

Housing Shortage Hits Younger Generations Hard.

Homeowners stay put in California because they’re locked into low property taxes.

California homeowners tend to hold onto their houses for a long time because a state tax law incentivizes them to do so. Proposition 13, adopted in 1978, mandates that homeowners pay property taxes of 1% of their home’s assessed value, and strictly limits tax increases.

As the spring home buying season gets underway, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage saw the largest weekly decline since mid-September. The decline in rates increases prospective homebuyers’ purchasing power and should provide a strong incentive to make a move. Additionally, this decline in rates is already providing some existing homeowners the opportunity to refinance. In fact, the refinance share of market mortgage applications released this week reached nearly 44%, the highest since mid-December.

Primary Mortgage Market Survey®