The financial news that actually matters
Homeowners insurance is getting harder to find in parts of California, Florida, and Texas, and the problem is no longer confined to a few zip codes after a bad storm. In all three states, insurers have been cutting exposure, limiting new business, tightening underwriting, or refusing to renew some policies as catastrophe losses mount and…
More than 1.1 million U.S. homeowners ended 2025 owing more on their mortgages than their homes were worth, the highest tally since early 2018. That does not mean the country is heading into a replay of the last housing crash. It does mean the easy-equity era that defined much of the pandemic housing boom has…
Mortgage rates moved lower again in mid-February, opening a refinance window that had been mostly shut for much of the past two years. For homeowners who financed at 6.5% to 7.5% during the recent rate spike, even a modest drop has started to change the math in a meaningful way. That shift matters because refinancing…
Nationwide Building Society has trimmed fixed mortgage rates in a move that could intensify competition across the UK home-loan market just as buyers and homeowners are searching for clearer signs of relief. The timing matters. Borrowing costs are no longer at the painful highs seen after the market turmoil of recent years, but they are…
Some housing economists and market analysts say 30-year fixed mortgage rates could fall below 5% by 2026, though the timing is uncertain. The forecast rests heavily on expectations that the Federal Reserve will continue easing monetary policy as inflation cools toward its target. For prospective buyers who have struggled with higher borrowing costs in recent…
Mortgage application activity moved higher in early December as borrowing costs stayed near their lowest levels of the year, offering buyers and refinancers a modest opening after a housing market that has spent much of 2025 under pressure. The gain was real, but it was not the kind of broad-based surge that would signal a…