US mortgage rates climb again in latest week, many at year high
U.S. ?mortgage interest rates climbed to their highest in about a year last week on an ?array of home loan products after a resumption of U.S.-Iran fighting drove up both oil prices and the inflation-sensitive Treasury yields that underpin residential borrowing costs. The contract rate on a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage - the most common U.S. home loan - climbed 7 basis ?points to 6.76% in the week ended July 24, just shy of a one-year high, the Mortgage ?Bankers Association said on Wednesday.
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Closinglock launches payment tools to secure homebuyer funds
Closinglock has launched SecurePay open payment links and buyer earnest money deposit (EMD) returns, allowing title companies to securely accept and refund buyer funds through a single platform. SecurePay links accept earnest money, option fees and closing costs before a file opens. EMD returns use pre-verified bank accounts to deliver refunds by the next business day.
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Wire Fraud in Title & Escrow Is Intensifying: 7 Takeaways From Qualia's 2026 Report
Cybercrime has hit record highs, and real estate's feeling the pressure. In 2025, the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) logged more than one million complaints for the first time in its 26-year history, with total U.S. losses reaching $20.87 billion, up 26% year over year. Real estate fraud complaints climbed 32% on an annual basis to 12,368, and losses jumped nearly 60% to $275.1 million.
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Hispanic homeowners in Florida pay 58% more for insurance than white homeowners, report says
A new report is raising concerns about homeowners insurance premiums in Florida, finding that costs tend to run higher in Black and Hispanic neighborhoods than in white neighborhoods. The report, titled "Redlined, The Persistence of Racial Inequality in the Cost of Homeowners Insurance," was published by the Consumer Federation of America and examined how homeowners insurance premiums differ from neighborhood to neighborhood across the state. According to the report, across the U.S., Black neighborhoods pay 16% more and Hispanics 30% more than white neighborhoods.
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