30-yr, 15-yr Fixed-Rate Mortgages Set New Lows
Averaged fixed-rate mortgages set new record lows this week, with the 30-year at 3.84 percent and the 15-year at 3.07, keeping homebuyer affordability at historic levels, according to Freddie Mac.
The 30-year fixed-rate ...
Visa, MasterCard ‘Swipe Fees’ on Merchants Fall 45%: Fed
Average fees that big banks charge merchants for each debit card transaction on Visa, MasterCard or other networks have dropped from 43 cents to 24 cents, a 45 percent decline, according to new data from the Federal ...
Target vs. Amazon: Stores to Drop All Kindle Devices
Target stores will no longer sell Amazon.com’s popular Kindle devices in a move that is apparently more about Amazon’s online dominance than about e-readers.
Target will halt sales of all Kindles, including ...
American Express: Consumers Empowered by Social Media
Nine out of ten of Americans surveyed said that companies fail to exceed their service expectations, while one out of two respondents walked away from an intended purchase in the past year because of a poor customer ...
MasterCard Profit Up 21% on Higher Card Purchases
MasterCard’s profit in the first quarter jumped 25 percent as more consumers uses their credit and debit cards, especially in overseas markets.
The world’s second-largest card network, reported net income ...
FHA Sees 32% Surge in Mortgage Applications in March
The Federal Housing Administration in March saw a jump of 32 percent in applications for single-family mortgages insured by the agency – a total of 205,778, according to the FHA’s latest report.
March’s total ...
Chrysler U.S. Sales Surge 20% in April; Ford, GM Down
U.S. Sales of Chrysler vehicles jumped 20 percent in April, as the automaker continues a remarkable comeback and racks up its 25th straight month of year-over-year increases.
Ford and General Motors saw declines ...
Auto Loans Lead Modest Jump in Consumer Lending: Fed
Demand for consumer loans have increased somewhat, with auto loans showing the largest increase, according to the Federal Reserve’s most recent quarterly survey of loan officers released today.
Overall, the Fed’s ...
U.S. Homeownership Falls to 65.4%, Lowest Since 1997
The U.S. homeownership rate fell to 65.4 percent in the first quarter of 2012 to the lowest level since 1997, as a weak economy and an accompanying foreclosure crisis has forced more Americans to shift into renting.
The ...
Consumers Earned More, Saved More in March
Household income for Americans increased $50.3 billion, or 0.4 percent, in March, the most since December, according to the Commerce Department.
Economists had expected a gain of 0.3 percent.
The quarter ended on ...
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