[Fox Business] Today’s lowest mortgage rate? 10-year terms at 5.875% | July 28, 2023

Based on data compiled by Credible, mortgage rates for home purchases have risen for two key terms, fallen for another, and held steady for one more since yesterday.

Rates last updated on July 28, 2023. These rates are based on the assumptions shown here. Actual rates may vary. Credible, a personal finance marketplace, has 5,000 Trustpilot reviews with an average star rating of 4.7 (out of a possible 5.0).

What this means: Mortgage purchase rates continue to stay above 7% for 15-, 20-, and 30-year terms. Today, rates for 10-year terms have fallen by a half of a percentage point to 5.875%. Meanwhile, rates for 20- and 30-year terms have edged up to 8% and 7.625%, respectively. Additionally, rates for 15-year terms have remained unchanged at 7.125%. Borrowers looking to maximize their interest savings should consider today’s lowest rate, 10-year terms at 5.875%. Homebuyers who would rather have a smaller monthly payment should instead consider 30-year terms, as they have the lowest rate out of the two longer terms.

To find great mortgage rates, start by using Credible’s secured website, which can show you current mortgage rates from multiple lenders without affecting your credit score. You can also use Credible’s mortgage calculator to estimate your monthly mortgage payments.

Based on data compiled by Credible, mortgage refinance rates have risen for two key terms, while two others have fallen since yesterday.

Rates last updated on July 28, 2023. These rates are based on the assumptions shown here. Actual rates may vary. With 5,000 reviews, Credible maintains an “excellent” Trustpilot score.

What this means: Mortgage refinance rates have returned to their pattern of keeping the longer terms above 6%, while the shorter terms stay within the 5% range. Today, rates for 20- and 30-year terms rose to 6.875%, each increasing by a quarter of a percentage point or more. Meanwhile, rates for 10- and 15-year terms have fallen to 5.875%, with the former dropping by a quarter of a percentage point, while the latter edged down. Homeowners looking to refinance into a lower monthly payment should consider either of today’s longer terms. Borrowers who would rather save the most on interest should instead consider either of today’s shorter terms, as they share today’s lowest mortgage refinance rate of 5.875%.

Today’s mortgage interest rates are well below the highest annual average rate recorded by Freddie Mac — 16.63% in 1981. A year before the COVID-19 pandemic upended economies across the world, the average interest rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage for 2019 was 3.94%. The average rate for 2021 was 2.96%, the lowest annual average in 30 years.

The historic drop in interest rates means homeowners who have mortgages from 2019 and older could potentially realize significant interest savings by refinancing with one of today’s lower interest rates. When considering a mortgage or refinance, it’s important to take into account closing costs such as appraisal, application, origination and attorney’s fees. These factors, in addition to the interest rate and loan amount, all contribute to the cost of a mortgage. 

Changing economic conditions, central bank policy decisions, investor sentiment and other factors influence the movement of mortgage rates. Credible average mortgage rates and mortgage refinance rates reported in this article are calculated based on information provided by partner lenders who pay compensation to Credible.

The rates assume a borrower has a 700 credit score and is borrowing a conventional loan for a single-family home that will be their primary residence. The rates also assume no (or very low) discount points and a down payment of 20%.

Credible mortgage rates reported here will only give you an idea of current average rates. The rate you actually receive can vary based on a number of factors.

It’s critical to have an idea of how much you can afford to borrow for a mortgage before you begin home shopping or make an offer on a house.

Generally, the 28/36 rule is a good measure of how much you can afford to borrow without strapping your finances. The rule states that your mortgage payment, including taxes and insurance, shouldn’t be more than 28% of your gross monthly income. And all your debts, including your mortgage and other monthly expenses like car and student loan payments, shouldn’t exceed 36% of your gross monthly income.

For example, if your gross monthly income is $6,250 (annual salary of $75,000), you should be able to afford a monthly payment of $1,750. And your total monthly debt load shouldn’t exceed $2,250.

A general rule of thumb is that you shouldn’t take out a mortgage that’s two to two and half times your gross annual income. So in the above scenario, the maximum you should borrow to buy a house would be $187,500.

Ultimately, lenders determine how much you can afford to borrow by weighing your income, debt, assets, credit and other financial factors.

If you’re trying to find the right mortgage rate, consider using Credible. You can use Credible’s free online tool to easily compare multiple lenders and see prequalified rates in just a few minutes.

Have a finance-related question, but don’t know who to ask? Email The Credible Money Expert at moneyexpert@credible.com and your question might be answered by Credible in our Money Expert column.

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[Fox Business] United Airlines pilot removed from service after showing up drunk to flight

A United Airlines pilot was removed from service after reportedly showing up drunk to work a flight from Paris to Washington, D.C., on Sunday afternoon.

French media reported that the pilot, identified as 63-year-old “Henry W.”, received a six-month-long prison sentence and was fined, in addition to having his license suspended for a year.

Le Parisien reported Wednesday that the pilot had a blood alcohol concentration of more than three times the legal limit set by the Federal Aviation Administration.

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The FAA said violations of its drug and alcohol testing regulation include those who used alcohol while on duty, those who used alcohol eight hours prior to duty for pilots, those who used alcohol within eight hours following an accident and an alcohol test resulting in a concentration of 0.04% or greater.

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“The safety of our customers and crew is always our top priority. We hold all our employees to the highest standards and have a strict no-tolerance policy for alcohol,” United told FOX Business in an email on Friday. 

“This employee was immediately removed from service and we are fully cooperating with local authorities,” it said.

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United did not confirm specific details of the incident, but a report in The Local said police told the court that the pilot showed “obvious signs of drunkenness” at Charles de Gaulle Airport. The flight was headed to Washington Dulles Airport, outlets said.

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[Fox Business] McDonald’s to debut new spinoff restaurant concept called CosMc’s next year

McDonald’s is working on a spinoff restaurant. It’s called CosMc’s. 

CEO Chris Kempczinski told analysts on an earnings call Thursday that the small-format concept restaurant will have “all the DNA of McDonald’s but its own unique personality.” 

The name of the new restaurant stems from a six-armed alien character that appeared in the company’s advertisements from the 1980s. 

The fast food giant will debut the new concept in a “small handful of sites in a limited geography beginning early next year,” a McDonald’s spokesperson told FOX Business. 

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Kempczinski didn’t elaborate on the company’s plans. However, McDonald’s will have more information about development plans and new format innovations at its investor day in December. 

The company appears to be riding off of the strong momentum it’s seeing in the U.S. where consumers have remained largely resilient. 

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Kempczinski said the company is gaining a share of higher-income customers who are trading down from sit-down restaurants. Customers with incomes of $45,000 or lower are spending less on each order but are coming in more often, he said.

“There is certainly concern with the US consumer that shows up in their sentiment but our business and our value positioning in the market has put us into a good position to be able to weather that and continue to drive the share gains that you’re seeing,” Kempczinski said.

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Same-store sales in the U.S. more than doubled, rising 10.3% in the quarter compared with a 3.7% rise a year earlier.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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[Fox Business] Former Anheuser-Busch exec says layoffs should’ve included CEO: ‘There’s no future at this company’

Instead of laying off hundreds of rank-and-file employees, a former Anheuser-Busch executive argued the brewer would’ve been smarter to let go of just one person.

“My feeling is they would’ve been set up for more success if they actually laid off one person, which is their CEO,” Anson Frericks, Anheuser-Busch’s previous president of operations, said on “Varney & Co.” Friday.

“They said they’re trying to set this business up for future long-term success, but there’s no future at this company with the current CEO in place,” he added. “The CEO is accountable for the results of the organization, and the results of the last four months have been terrible.”

After a controversial partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney resulted in months of Bud Light’s slumping sales, Anheuser-Busch InBev announced that it laid off hundreds of workers.

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Brendan Whitworth, CEO of Anheuser-Busch, the world’s largest brewer, on Wednesday, said the company did not make the decision to cut staff “lightly” but was prioritizing its “future long-term success,” The Wall Street Journal reported.

“You still have sales down 30% on their top brands. Billions of dollars of shareholder value have been raised, and it’s all due to the decisions made by the top leaders of the company,” Frericks criticized.

Anheuser-Busch’s current CEO clarified the layoffs included corporate and marketing roles at U.S. offices in St. Louis, New York and Los Angeles. It did not impact brewery and warehouse staff, the company also said.

Frericks expanded on why the job cuts should have started “at the top” of the company.

“Every single CEO, they have a fiduciary obligation to their shareholders, not to these stakeholders in the organization that are pushing different agendas, activist agendas, political agendas,” the former exec explained. “If you’re the CEO of a company, you’re the one who’s accountable for the results at the end of the day.”

When he settled into the company after joining in 2011, Frericks claimed he started seeing the shift away from fiscal priorities to political ones.

“By the time I left the organization, we started releasing two annual reports: one was for shareholders, which talked about what the company was doing, its financials; but there was a second, 105-page ESG report that the company was releasing that was talking about DEI, talking about ESG, talking to these progressive things that frankly did not deliver to the bottom line,” he pointed out.

Frericks expressed he remains “shocked” that Anheuser-Busch hasn’t properly addressed or fixed the slump in sales, and warned of “more pain” to come.

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“They have their shareholder call next week where they’re going to have to be accountable to shareholders. I think they’re going to be a lot of tough questions where you’re going to have folks asking what the plan is to turn things around.”

Anheuser-Busch did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

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FOX Business’ Lawrence Richard contributed to this report.

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[Fox Business] GOP Rep. Nancy Mace claims Biden family received over $50M from influence peddling scheme

As Republican calls grow to pursue impeachment against President Biden, one member of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee is detailing just how deep the Biden family’s pockets go.

“Based on the evidence I’ve seen so far, I think the number is going to be north of $50 million that we’re talking about here,” Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., said on “Mornings with Maria” Friday.

“This will go down as one of the most politically corrupt presidents and families in U.S. history,” she added. “And we’ve got to show and prove it to the American people. We’ve got to show them everything that we have.”

Other committee members have signaled that up to $100 million flowed through the then-second family, as Hunter Biden and his foreign business dealings are currently at the center of a criminal probe.

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In recent hearings, House Oversight has brought forth bank records, tax records, text messages and emails implicating President Biden in his son’s suspicious, overseas business transactions. Whistleblowers from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) also recently testified that federal prosecutors stonewalled the investigation into the Bidens’ business dealings.

Additionally, a plea deal for Hunter Biden around federal tax crimes fell apart in court this week, which Rep. Mace pointed out could mean more serious charges are coming.

“It’s enormous,” Mace said of the Biden family’s profits. “It’s mind-boggling that the DOJ, the FBI, the IRS has sat on their hands and done absolutely nothing when they’ve seen that kind of money flowing through dozens and dozens of shell companies.”

“The bribes, the payoffs, the money laundering, the racketeering, everything that’s been going on, and no one in that family has been held accountable. And it’s wrong,” she continued to criticize.

She emphasized that the president “should be getting nervous right now” as evidence starts “adding up.”

“Thank goodness for the judge earlier this week that saw the plea deal for what it was. [Hunter] should not have had a sweetheart plea deal in the middle of an investigation,” Mace said. “Everything that Joe Biden has said about Hunter Biden and these business deals, it has turned out to be an absolute lie.”

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., Reps. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., and Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., have all teased the idea of bringing forth an impeachment inquiry against President Biden.

Rep. Mace couldn’t clarify when an impeachment effort would happen, but argued it would give Congress more leverage for future evidence.

“We’ve got to use every tool in our toolbox because the American people don’t trust Congress. And we have to show every single piece of evidence so that they can trust the evidence,” she noted, “they can trust the truth when we deliver it to them with all the evidence that is becoming overwhelming.” 

“I don’t know how Joe Biden runs for president after all of this and what’s coming out.”

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On Monday, Hunter Biden’s former business partner Devon Archer is set to stand in front of House Oversight lawmakers for a transcribed interview.

The White House press office did not immediately return Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

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[Fox Business] Mortgage rates increase as home price growth slows

The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rate increased to 6.81% for the week ending July 27, 2023, up from 6.78% last week, according to the latest data by Freddie Mac. At the same time, the average 15-year fixed-rate mortgage jumped to 6.11%, up from 6.06% last week. 

The data followed the Federal Reserve’s anticipated interest rate increase. But despite a tense interest rate environment, consumers have been confident about spending capabilities, according to Freddie Mac. 

“Mortgage rates inched up slightly after a significant decline last week,” Freddie Mac Chief Economist Sam Khater said in a statement. “Higher interest rates continue to dampen activity in interest rate-sensitive sectors, such as housing. However, overall U.S. consumer confidence is unwavering, surging to a two-year high in the Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index for July 2023. Rising consumer confidence often leads to greater spending, which could drive more consumers into the housing market.”

Still, housing affordability and scarce availability have presented challenges to homebuyers in 2023.

At this time last year, the average rate for a 30-year fixed rate mortgage stood at 5.30%. 

If you’re interested in becoming a homeowner, you could still find the best mortgage rates by shopping around. Visit Credible to compare options from different lenders, without affecting your credit score.

ANNUAL MEDIAN HOME PRICES DECLINE FOR FIRST TIME IN YEARS: REPORT

Despite overall higher mortgage rates, annual home price growth slowed for the 12th straight month in May, according to the latest data by CoreLogic. Home prices increased by 1.4% year-over-year in May.

“After peaking in the spring of 2022, annual home price deceleration continued in May,” CoreLogic Chief Economist Selma Hepp said in a statement. “Despite slowing year-over-year price growth, the recent momentum in monthly price gains continues in the face of recent mortgage rates increases.”

“Nevertheless, following a cumulative increase of almost 4% in home prices between February and April of 2023, elevated mortgage rates and high home prices are putting pressure on potential buyers,” Hepp continued. “These dynamics are cooling recent month-over-month home price growth, which began to taper and is returning to the pre-pandemic average, with a 0.9% increase from April to May.”

However, annual home price shifts in May varied significantly across different locations, according to CoreLogic. These are the areas that experienced drops in home prices.

On the other hand, Miami posted the highest annual home price increase of 11.8% in May out of the 20 metro areas tracked by CoreLogic. Miami was followed by Atlanta and Charlotte, North Carolina, which each posted the next-highest gains at 4.4%.

If you’re considering jumping into the housing market, it could benefit you to shop around for the best rates. Visit Credible to speak with a mortgage expert and get your questions answered. 

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To cool inflation down to its 2% target range, the Fed increased interest rates again in July. That brought the federal funds rate to a targeted range of 5.25% to 5.5%, its highest level in more than two decades. 

The move also marked the 11th time the central bank increased rates since last year. Despite some positive economic indicators, it’s unclear whether the Fed would loosen its grip on monetary policy. 

“The Fed’s actions over the past year have had a similar cooling effect on inflation, with both the CPI and the PCE Price Index gliding down from around 9% to 3% territory,” George Ratiu, Keeping Current Matters’ chief economist, said in a statement. “As FOMC members see the 2% target within sight—especially without significant damage to the economy up to this point—they clearly want to make another push to reach the milestone.”

Additional increases to the federal funds rate could affect interest rates on mortgages. 

If you’re concerned about rising interest rates, you could find the best mortgage rates by shopping around and weighing your options. Visit Credible to get your personalized rate in minutes.

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Have a finance-related question, but don’t know who to ask? Email The Credible Money Expert at moneyexpert@credible.com and your question might be answered by Credible in our Money Expert column.

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