Economy

A 21.2% spike in the price of gasoline was the biggest contributor to a 0.9% increase in the Consumer Price Index in March, according to a Friday report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The agency said other price increases were largely contained.

The White House's proposed 2027 budget would slash funding to the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, the latest in an ongoing campaign from the Trump administration to dismantle the politically popular program.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should aggressively buy and restructure low-coupon MBS into CMOs rather than holding them, a move that would lower long-term mortgage rates, according to the chairman of Whalen Global Advisors.

New jobs in health care largely drove the gains, while the federal workforce and finance continued to shrink.

The 30-year fixed rate climbed to 6.46% this week, its highest mark since September, as mortgage applications fell 10.4% and sellers outnumber buyers by a record 46%.

Two former members of the Federal Open Market Committee said in interviews that they expect the Federal Reserve to keep rates steady amid uncertainty over the ongoing war with Iran and the resulting upward pressure on inflation.

In three separate appearances Thursday, Fed Gov. Lisa Cook, Gov. Michael Barr and Vice Chair Philip Jefferson said they are worried that U.S. involvement in the war with Iran could drive up inflation, leading them to conclude that interest rates should remain steady in the near term.

The 30-year fixed mortgage has increased by 40 basis points since February, while the 15-year is 14 basis points lower than a year ago, Freddie Mac reported.

What was once a bipartisan and broadly popular housing bill has been weighed down with a pair of provisions that banks can't support. Even with those headwinds, the bill is more likely than not to pass, but not without drawn-out negotiations between the House and Senate.

Housing economists at ICE Experience 2026 predict mortgage growth but also say the home finance industry has yet to fully adapt to the disruption of this decade.

For the second week in a row, the 30-year fixed increased by 11 basis points, Freddie Mac found, a result of reaction to oil price hikes from the Iran conflict.

The Federal Open Market Committee is widely expected to keep rates unchanged, but all eyes will be on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's commentary about the economic impacts of the Iran war and its longer-term impact on inflation.

A White House executive order issued Friday afternoon directing regulators to ease Dodd-Frank compliance burdens comes as a bipartisan housing bill advances on Capitol Hill.

The Senate passed a bipartisan housing bill in an 89 to 10 vote, but how quickly and easily the bill can pass the House remains unclear.

The conflict pushed oil price futures above $100 a barrel for a short time earlier this week, which affected bond investors and the 10-year Treasury yield.

Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman outlined upcoming changes to the bank regulatory capital framework in a speech Thursday, focusing on streamlining bank capital requirements through Basel III and global systemically important bank surcharge rules.

Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan Gould said that the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency would continue to pursue its view on federal preemption of state banking policy in court and in Congress.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the economy lost 92,000 jobs in February while unemployment held steady at 4.4%, a development that could spur the Federal Reserve to question whether interest rates are truly in balance.

While this only shows a 2-basis-point rise in the 30-year fixed since last week, the Lender Price product and pricing engine data is 30 basis points higher.

Sens. Tim Scott, R-S.C., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., released new legislative language Monday night that includes a ban on institutional investors' purchase of single family homes and a temporary ban on the Federal Reserve issuing a Central Bank Digital Currency.