Here's my take on the potential effects of this rate increase:

1. Home Sales - this is the most obvious (and most strenuous) impact for the market as this adds additional pressure to the previous issue of available homes for sale.

2. Investor Behavior - real estate investors often factor in certain costs (acquisition, holding, financing, and disposition) when underwriting possible projects in the residential (and commercial) space. Higher costs, along with thinning margins, can lead to investors passing due to the viability of these projects.

3. Home Prices - this may not have the positive effect that most people think it will (at least not immediately) and most were waiting for.

Yes...sellers "may" have to adjust the asking price for a home (assuming they NEED to sell) to cater to the higher financing costs for buyers; however, the current supply and demand issue supersede everything at the moment, and it will take a lot longer for the downward pressure on pricing to happen (if at all...)