What’s Really Going on With Interest Rates? Our CEO Breaks It Down on The Real Estate Rundown

Every buyer asks some version of the same question right now: what’s actually happening with interest rates? On the latest episode of The Real Estate Rundown, host Josh Grant put that exact question to New Story Lending CEO Shane Miller, Ph.D., alongside returning guest Clay Vassey. Shane didn’t dodge it, and the conversation went a lot further than rates.

Why the Show Wanted Shane’s Take

Shane brings more than 20 years of mortgage industry experience to New Story Lending, along with a U.S. military veteran’s background and a company built around serving borrowers other lenders turn away. As CEO of an independent mortgage bank licensed in 37 states, he’s spent his career explaining complicated rate and credit topics in plain language, which made him the natural person to ask when listeners wanted a straight answer instead of a headline.

What Shane Told Listeners About Rates

Shane was upfront that he’d rather give listeners the honest, national picture than a single number that might not reflect anyone’s actual situation. He described a market shaped by real volatility, from global conflict and oil prices to inflation, and was careful to frame his answer as a realist’s view rather than a prediction.

“Everything I’m telling you today could be a lie, because there are so many data points and market-driven factors here that anybody that tells you concisely what’s going to happen in the next 3, 6, 9, 12 months is surely forecasting. They don’t really know,” Shane said, borrowing a line from a high school chemistry teacher.

His outlook: cautiously optimistic that rates continue trending in a more comfortable direction over the next year, while acknowledging that no one can predict exactly when or by how much.

The Real Barrier Isn’t the Rate, It’s Education

The most pointed part of the conversation wasn’t about rates at all. Shane’s take: buyers sitting on the sidelines aren’t necessarily being stubborn, they’re exhausted after years of whiplash between historic lows and higher rates. What keeps qualified buyers from moving forward, in his view, is more often a lack of education than the rate itself.

He pointed to agents and lenders who default to “I’ve got someone you can call” instead of doing the work to explain the numbers, and put it plainly: applying for a mortgage doesn’t hurt you, and it costs nothing to find out what you actually qualify for. It’s a philosophy that shows up directly in how New Story Lending is built, including a 500+ FICO lending threshold designed to serve borrowers that larger, national lenders won’t.

Thinking About Buying in the Upstate? Here’s Where to Start

Shane and Clay Vassey also got into what’s happening locally: an Upstate housing affordability index that’s outperforming the national headlines, a market that’s shifted toward buyers with roughly 5.5 months of inventory, and down payment assistance options through South Carolina Housing for well-qualified buyers who just need help with the upfront cost.

If any of that sounds like your situation, talk to a loan officer about what you actually qualify for, or explore our loan options to see the full picture before you rule anything out.

Watch or Listen to the Full Episode

You can catch the full conversation wherever you listen:

• Apple Podcasts
• Spotify
• YouTube
• On the Western Upstate MLS website

Have Questions About Your Own Rate?

Getting asked to break down the mortgage market for a room full of agents and listeners doesn’t happen by accident. It’s the same conversation Shane and our loan officers have with every borrower who comes to New Story Lending. If you’ve been waiting for the right time to ask, get a free quote and find out where you actually stand.