U.S. 10-year Treasury yields are 5.18% and 30-year yields about 5.5%, levels last seen before the Great Recession. The Motley Fool argues today’s mortgage market is safer, but warns high yields could strain commercial real estate and private credit.
The article attributes this year’s yield surge to oil prices rising amid the Iran war and renewed focus on U.S. debt. It says the 2006–08 housing collapse involved subprime loans, often made without income or asset checks, and adjustable-rate mortgages whose payments rose when introductory rates reset.
The Motley Fool says lending standards are now safer and cites Fortune’s figure that 92% of U.S. mortgages have fixed rates; it also notes some housing markets have cooled since the pandemic. The article says private-credit defaults reached a five-year high earlier this year, but it is unclear whether another credit crisis has begun.
