The financial news that actually matters
For years, homeowners insurance was the kind of bill most people glanced at and paid. That era appears to be over. A Pew Research Center survey conducted in March 2026 found that 71% of U.S. homeowners say their premiums have risen in recent years, with 42% calling the increase substantial. Among those paying more, 57%…
A buyer who locked in a 30-year fixed mortgage on a $400,000 home during the first week of January 2026 secured a rate of 5.75% and a monthly principal-and-interest payment of roughly $2,334. A buyer taking out the same loan in early May faces a rate of 6.37% and a payment of about $2,498. That…
The roof over Brenda Colquitt’s head in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, needs patching. She knows it. But when her homeowners insurance premium jumped by more than $800 last year, she made a calculation millions of Americans are now making: pay the insurer or fix the house. She paid the insurer. The roof still leaks. Colquitt’s dilemma…
Homebuyers shopping for a mortgage this week are seeing something they haven’t seen in over a month: a 30-year fixed rate starting with a 6.1 handle. Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey for the week ending May 8, 2026, put the benchmark 30-year fixed rate at 6.18%, down sharply from the 6.46% reading on April…
When a Fort Myers, Florida, homeowner locked in a 3.2% fixed-rate mortgage in 2021, her monthly payment was supposed to stay predictable for 30 years. It didn’t. After her insurer pulled out of the state following Hurricane Ian, her replacement policy came in at nearly triple the original premium. Her escrow payment jumped more than…
The U.S. economy added 115,000 jobs in April 2026 and the unemployment rate held steady at 4.3 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on May 8. The gain topped most forecasts, especially given the drag from higher energy prices. Tensions between the United States and Iran that escalated earlier in 2026 have disrupted oil…
The average American homeowner now pays roughly $2,400 a year to insure their house, up from about $1,640 in 2021. The $2,400 figure is an estimate from the Insurance Information Institute, while the 46% trend line is derived from the Federal Reserve’s producer price index for property insurance, which tracks list-price changes published by insurers….
Maria Gonzalez bought her three-bedroom house in Cape Coral, Florida, in 2019 with a fixed-rate mortgage she could comfortably afford. She never missed a payment. Then, in early 2025, her monthly bill jumped by $287. The principal and interest had not changed. Her property taxes were flat. What changed was her homeowners insurance, which her…
A buyer who qualified for a $400,000 home last week just lost a little more ground. The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate rose to 6.37%, up from 6.30% seven days earlier, according to Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey. That is the second straight weekly increase and pushes borrowing costs further from the sub-6% territory…
When Marcus Ellington closed on his three-bedroom in suburban Denver in September 2023, his 30-year fixed rate came in at 7.12%. “I knew it was ugly,” he told himself at the time, “but the house wasn’t going to wait.” Two and a half years later, Ellington is one of a growing wave of homeowners rushing…