Rates

A "For Sale" sign outside a house in Crockett, California, on Tuesday, May 31, 2022.David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesMortgage rates rose sharply this week, after pulling back over the last three weeks.The 30-year fixed hit 5.36% Monday and then moved higher again Tuesday to 5.47%, according to Mortgage News Daily. Volatility in global markets Monday sent bond yields higher. Mortgage rates follow loosely the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury.The average rate on the popular 30-year fixed loan ended last week at…

A single family home is shown for sale in Encinitas, California.Mike Blake | ReutersMortgage demand slipped to the lowest level since December 2018, even after rates declined slightly last week.Applications for a mortgage to purchase a home fell 1% last week compared with the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's seasonally adjusted index. Volume was 14% lower than the same week one year ago.Despite a slight decline, mortgage rates are significantly higher than they were at the start of this…

It is partly because people gravitate toward cheap, energy-dense food in times of crisis that we see this effect, Nettle says. This is different from a famine situation (where people have such little access to food that they waste away) but remains a hugely problematic and potentially deadly predicament.But it’s not just that people eat excessive amounts of calories when they can in order to store fat and survive hungry periods—known as the insurance hypothesis. They also appear to change their behavior and physiological…

A sold sign sits outside a home. Adam Jeffery | CNBCRising mortgage rates did not slow down rising home prices in March.Nationally, home prices were 20.6% higher than they were in March 2021, according to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Home Price Index. That is higher than the 20% gain in February. The index is a three-month running average ending in March.The average rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage stood at 3.29% at the start of January and ended March at 4.67%, according to Mortgage News Daily.The Case-Shiller…

Cancer mortality rates in the U.S. are only slightly better than average, despite spending twice as much on cancer care as the average high-income countryWhile the United States spends twice as much on cancer care as the average high-income country, its cancer mortality rates are only slightly better than average, according to a new analysis by scientists at <span class="glossaryLink" aria-describedby="tt" data-cmtooltip="<div class=glossaryItemTitle>Yale University</div><div…

A Federal Reserve official said Monday he would support raising interest rates in half-percentage-point increments for several more meetings, adding to a growing debate over how far and fast the central bank should push up borrowing costs to combat high inflation.The U.S. central bank raised interest rates by a half percentage point, or 50 basis points, on May 4, the first half-point increase since 2000. Officials have signaled similar moves are very likely at their next two meetings, in June and July. “I support…

One of the contributing factors in the U.S. baby-formula shortage is a significant shift in the way parents feed their babies: Breast-feeding declined during the pandemic, reversing a decadeslong trend, health practitioners say.Since 2020, the share of breast-fed one-year-olds has plummeted from an estimated 34% to an estimated 14% this year, according to surveys conducted by Demographic Intelligence, a forecasting firm that specializes in births and works with formula manufacturers including Abbott…

Some bad news for the vehicle owners already affected by the accelerating fuel price increase. From June 1, 2022, onwards, the motor third-party liability insurance premium has been jacked up by the central government despite the portfolio being hugely profitable for the insurers. The central government has also withdrawn the 15 percent discount on the base premium for electric vehicles (EV) perhaps due to EVs going up in flames in recent times or without any basic claims experience data. Curiously, the three-year third…

A for sale sign is posted in front of a home that is listed for over $1 million on April 29, 2022 in San Francisco, California.Justin Sullivan | Getty ImagesMortgage rates turned lower for the second straight week, but it wasn't enough to boost demand for either new purchase loans or refinances, according to a weekly report from the Mortgage Bankers Association.Rates are still much higher than they were for the past two years. Last week the average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming…

Federal Reserve officials thought they would need to raise interest rates by a half percentage point at each of their next two meetings when they approved an increase at their meeting earlier this month. Minutes from the Fed’s May 3-4 meeting, released Wednesday, also showed officials discussed the possibility they would raise interest rates to levels high enough to deliberately slow economic growth as the central bank races to combat high inflation.…