mortgage rates

Economy

Are rising interest rates giving you grief while you wait for your home to be built?

5:00pm June 24, 2022

by Chris Arnold

Many people are getting hurt financially because mortgage rates rose sharply while they were waiting for their new homes to be built. And now it's hard or impossible to buy them. Share your story.

Mortgage rates on 30-year, fixed-rate loans rose above 5% this week. That's pushing the cost of buying a home higher and making homeownership unaffordable for more people.

Mortgage rates just hit 5%. Here's how much more expensive that makes home ownership

6:12pm April 08, 2022

by Chris Arnold

Higher mortgage rates and home prices have pushed the monthly payment to buy the median-priced home in the U.S. up more than 50% since the start of last year. Many first-time buyers can't afford it.

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A historic drop in mortgage rates has millions of homeowners refinancing to save money. It's helping home sales, but it's not helping the broader economy as much as it would in a normal recession.

Record Low Mortgage Rates Put More Cash In Pockets, But May Not Boost Economy Much

5:11pm July 21, 2020

by Chris Arnold

A historic drop in rates has millions of homeowners refinancing to save money. It's helping home sales, but it's not helping the broader economy as much as it would in a normal recession.

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Coronavirus fears sent stock markets plummeting last week, but they're also pushing mortgage rates down near historical lows. That's an opportunity for homebuyers and homeowners.

Economy

Mortgage Rates Are Near All-Time Lows As Coronavirus Worries Hit Markets

8:39pm March 02, 2020

by Chris Arnold

Coronavirus fears have sent stock markets reeling, but they're also pushing mortgage rates down near historical lows. That's an opportunity for homebuyers and homeowners.

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Trader Edward Curran (right) works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Monday. As Treasury yields topped 3 percent on Tuesday, the Dow Jones industrial average tumbled.

Interest Rate Rise Unsettles Stock Investors; Dow Falls 425 Points

7:44pm April 24, 2018

by John Ydstie

For the first time in four years, the rate on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note crossed 3 percent. While it signals a stronger economy, it makes bonds more attractive investments, undermining stocks.

De Desharnais, a homebuilder and real estate agent in Nashua, N.H., stands in front of a house her company is constructing. She says her company had 32 employees at the height of the housing boom, and now only has six despite the industry's gradual recove

Will A Fed Interest Rate Hike Slow The Housing Recovery?

1:54pm December 15, 2015

by Chris Arnold

Many construction companies are still recovering from the housing crash, and while buyers don't seem pressured by a looming Federal Reserve decision, higher rates would make mortgages less affordable.

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Economy

Consumer Agency Launches Tool To Help You Find A Cheaper Mortgage

2:25pm January 16, 2015

by Chris Arnold

For many Americans, buying a house is the biggest financial transaction of their lives, but a new federal report says half of buyers don't shop around for a better interest rate on their mortgage.

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Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke during a news conference in June. Financial markets reacted to comments he made then by selling off bonds and stocks.

Investors Brace For News Out Of Fed Minutes

9:13am July 10, 2013

by Doreen McCallister

The minutes of the Federal Reserve's June meeting will be released a 2 p.m. That's the meeting chairman Bernanke said the Fed could begin to think about reducing the amount of money it pumps into the economy.

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