The Globe and Mail reports in its Monday edition that there were hopes that Canada's beleaguered housing market would see modest increases in activity in 2026, but the trade war and surging oil prices dampened those expectations. The Globe's Salmaan Farooqui writes that now, rising mortgage rates have quashed any hopes of a comeback. Bond yields have spiked in recent weeks, with the Canada five-year bond yield reaching a new two-year high of 3.72 on Thursday. Lenders base their long-term fixed mortgage rates on the performance of that bond, and their rates have jumped by more than 0.25 per cent in the past month, approaching the mid-4-per-cent mark. David Larock, owner of Toronto's Integrated Mortgage Planners, said current mortgage rates are still unusually low despite the high level of bond yields, because lenders are competing for a wave of pandemic-era mortgages that are renewing from their five-year terms. Economists warn that rising fixed rates are going to worsen housing affordability. "The affordability calculus doesn't make sense at these interest rates and house prices," BMO's Robert Kavcic told The Globe. "If we get sustained pressure in longer-term bond yields, that'll keep a pretty hard lid on the market."