Bellevue Buyers at 7.40%: Lock This Week or Wait?

If you are under contract in Bellevue, lock this week. Freddie Mac's 30-year averaged 7.40% on October 8, the highest since November 2023, and every $1 million borrowed now costs $6,924 a month in principal and interest, $734 more than a year ago. Floating into the October 28 Fed meeting is a bet, not a plan.

The trend is not ambiguous. The weekly average was 7.03% on September 24, 7.28% on October 1 and 7.40% on October 8, three rises in a row. You can check every number on Freddie Mac's weekly survey, which posts the next print Thursday, October 15.

If you are still touring and have no accepted offer, there is nothing to lock yet. What you can do this week is get a fresh written quote, so the price range you shop is the one you will actually qualify for.

On a 30-year fixed, principal and interest only, every $1 million borrowed costs $6,924 a month at 7.40%. It cost $6,673 at 7.03% on September 24 and $6,190 at 6.30% a year ago. That is $251 more a month than three weeks ago and $734 more than last October, on the same loan.

On an $800,000 loan the payment is $5,539 at 7.40%, against $5,339 three weeks ago and $4,952 a year ago. The house did not change. The payment did, by $587 a month over the year.

The 15-year averaged 6.73% the same week. Every $1 million on a 15-year costs about $8,838 a month, so it suits buyers with the income to carry it and a plan to own for a long time.

Long enough to cover your closing date with a week to spare. In my closings, the deals that pay for a lock extension are the ones where an appraisal, a condo questionnaire or a repair addendum slips by a few days, and the lock was cut to the exact day.

Ask your loan officer for the lock period, its expiration date and the cost of a 7-day and a 15-day extension, in writing, before you sign the lock. Lock pricing is set lender by lender, so compare it like you compare the rate.

A float-down lets you take a lower rate if the market drops after you lock. Some lenders include one, others charge for it, and most only let it trigger once rates fall by a set amount. Ask what it costs and what triggers it; at 7.40% after three straight weekly rises, it is the cheapest insurance you can buy against being wrong.

The bigger lever this fall is the seller. King County closed September with 4.70 months of inventory and pending sales down 16.7% from a year ago, per the NWMLS September 2026 snapshot. In that market I ask for a seller credit toward a rate buydown before I ask for a price cut, because a credit lowers the payment every month and a small price cut barely moves it.

It means you are negotiating, not competing. At 4.70 months of supply countywide, and 7.0 months for condos, the Bellevue offers I write this fall carry inspection and financing contingencies again, and sellers have room on terms.

Use that room for the payment, not only the price: a seller-paid buydown, closing-cost credits, or a closing date that fits your lock window. Our Bellevue housing market page shows current prices and days on market by home type.

Three things this week. Get a fresh written rate quote dated this week. Re-run your price ceiling at 7.40%, not at a quote from September. And decide with your agent which terms you will ask a seller for, so your first offer already carries a buydown or credit request.

The Fed meets October 27 and 28. Mortgage rates follow the 10-year Treasury more than the Fed's decision, and they can move either way that week. If you find the right house before then, write the offer and lock when it is accepted. Waiting for the meeting does not change the house; it only changes your rate risk.

If you want a buyer's agent who runs this math with you before every offer, start with our Bellevue buyer's agent page, and check today's numbers on our current mortgage rates page.