Those who grabbed real estate at the peak of the housing cycle are bracing for a rough ride heading into 2026. The narrative everyone's clinging to—cheaper mortgages on the horizon—is about to hit a wall. Here's the thing: rates aren't falling like the crowd thinks. They're going up. When that reality sinks in, when monthly payments start climbing instead of dropping, the cracks in this market will widen fast. We're looking at the early stages of a significant correction.