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...“They are overriding our local decisions [and] demoting American leadership,” said one current senior US employee....
...The average rate for a 30-year, fixed home mortgage was around 6.63 per cent last week, according to Freddie Mac....
...Including mortgage payments, mortgage insurance and property taxes, he pays $3,500 per month more today than what he spent on rent at the family’s last home....
...Homeowners who have locked in on low mortgage rates are reluctant to sell, limiting the supply of houses for sale....
...Sales of existing homes fell to levels not seen since the depths of the financial crisis as rates on the standard 30-year mortgage nearly tripled to around 8 per cent last autumn New listings tumbled, as...
...As mortgage rates hover around 6 per cent, nearly 70 per cent of Manhattan homes purchased in the final quarter of 2023 were bought without a mortgage, according to Pamela Liebman, the chief executive of...
...Even the inventory of new homes dipped a bit in 2023, as high mortgage rates put a damper on Americans’ desire to finance anything....
...Merchants are currently able to charge an extra fee for consumers who use American Express cards, but Visa and Mastercard have blocked sellers from doing so for their users....
...Americans are also extremely fond of their fixed-rate certainty. “It’s just so nice,” said one American, a fellow FT columnist, of his home loan....
...Sales of higher-margin discretionary items like home decor were down 12 per cent....
...At the same time, as higher mortgage rates have increased the monthly costs of owning a home, co-op boards have introduced new measures to ensure running costs are met....
...Fink said at the time that the debate references were “a sad commentary on the state of American politics”....
...For the less well off, who summer locally, do not own a home and tend to be younger, these conditions are less felicitous....
...“Getting a mortgage for 3 per cent, rather than the 7-8 per cent rates in the US, made it seem a good investment right now....
...“We have seen demand for new homes start to dry up.”...
...American companies so that they can pay for their coke....
...Basically, I defined what was wrong with mortgage markets. These “modified mortgages” entailed you buying the home, borrowing the money and paying 1 per cent on the mortgage for three years....
...American Express Global Business Travel has agreed to buy rival CWT for $570mn in a bet on the continued recovery of business travel....
...Economists estimate that the changes could cut the $100bn Americans pay annually in real estate fees by as much as 30 per cent....
...That is because the flow of new home loans to back new MBS issuance has all but dried up as American homeowners blanch at mortgage rates approaching 8 per cent — the highest level in at least two decades...
...Research from property broker Redfin in February showed that 36 per cent of young Americans had financial help from family when buying their first home....
...Fixed-rate mortgages, at around 2 per cent, are still relatively low, though it’s hard for Americans to get loans....
...Already, there has been an uptick in new mortgage applications and pending home sales....
...Quick links BHP has made a $39bn bid for Anglo American. Aside from securing copper tonnes on the cheap, Lex can’t see many benefits....
...“Nobody will support decarbonisation if it means giving up heating their home in the winter or cooling it in the summer. Or if the cost of doing so is prohibitive.”...
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