Mortgage rates are rising faster than they have in more than a decade
CBSN
The average interest rate for a 30-year mortgage in the U.S. has risen to 4.67%, up sharply from 4.42% a week ago, Freddie Mac said Thursday.
The cost of home loans has surged over the last year, especially after the Federal Reserve announced earlier month that it was raising its short-term borrowing rate for the first time since 2018. A year ago, a fixed-rate 30-year mortgage — the most common loan for Americans buying a home — averaged 3.18%. The rate on a 15-year mortgage now averages 3.83%, up from 3.63% last week and 2.45% a year ago, according to Freddie Mac.
The Mortgage Bankers Association pegs the average rate on a conventional home loan at an even stiffer 4.8%. Mortgage rates haven't risen this quickly since February 2011, according to the group. That is compounding the difficulty of buying a home, with Mike Fratantoni, the trade group's chief economist, also noting the shortage of properties for sale. The 4.8% rate on a standard loan is the highest since December 2018.
Ashley White received her earliest combat action badge from the United States Army soon after the first lieutenant arrived in Afghanistan. The silver military award, recognizing soldiers who've been personally engaged by an attacker during conflict, was considered an achievement in and of itself as well as an affirming rite of passage for the newly deployed. White had earned it for using her own body to shield a group of civilian women and children from gunfire that broke out in the midst of her third mission in Kandahar province. All of them survived. She never mentioned the badge to anyone in her battalion.