In this Sept. 25, 2019 file photo, a realty company's signs rest on several lawns in front of newly constructed houses in Brandon, Miss.. Long-term U.S. mortgage rates fell, Thursday, June 18, 2020, as the benchmark 30-year home loan reached a new all-time low. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac reports that the average rate on the key 30-year loan declined to 3.13% from 3.21% last week. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)
Long-term U.S. mortgage rates fell this week as the benchmark 30-year home loan reached a new all-time low.
Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac reported Thursday that the average rate on the key 30-year loan declined to 3.13% from 3.21% last week. It was the lowest level since Freddie began tracking average rates in 1971. A year ago, the rate stood at 3.84%.
The average rate on the 15-year fixed-rate mortgage eased to 2.58% from 2.62%.
In recent weeks, signs have pointed to the economy appearing to be slowly recovering from the devastation of the coronavirus pandemic, with more businesses partially reopening. The housing market has shown strength and robust homebuying demand, but it may be difficult to sustain because of the tight supply of homes available for sale, said Freddie Mac chief economist Sam Khater.
The outlook for the economy and housing will be affected by prospects for a vaccine for the virus and government relief measures and policies, Khater noted.
The government reported Thursday that about 1.5 million laid-off workers applied for U.S. unemployment benefits last week, a historically high number, even as the economy increasingly reopens and employers bring some people back to work. The latest figure marked the 11th straight weekly decline in applications since they peaked at nearly 7 million in March.
Swedish buy now, pay later company Klarna is making its highly anticipated public debut on the New York Stock Exchange Wednesday, the latest in a run of high-profile initial public offerings this year. The offering priced at $40 Tuesday, above the forecasted range of $35 to $37 a share, valuing the company at more than $15 billion. The valuation easily makes Klarna one of the biggest IPOs so far in 2025, which has been one of the busier years for companies going public. Other popular IPOs so far this year include the design software company Figma and Circle Internet Group, which issues the USDC stablecoin..
Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison wrested the title of the world’s richest man from longtime holder Elon Musk early Wednesday as stock in his software giant rocketed more than a third in a stunning few minutes of trading. That is according to wealth tracker Bloomberg. A college dropout, the 81-year-old Ellison is now worth $393 billion, Bloomberg says, several billion more than Musk, who had been the world’s richest for four years. The switch in the ranking came after a blockbuster earnings report from Oracle. Forbes still has Musk as the richest, however, valuing his private businesses much higher.
Aurimas Sabulis, CEO of Dextall, unveils how AI‑driven prefabricated façades slash design time by 80%, labor by 87%, and accelerate affordable housing delivery.
