Mortgage rates are lowest in 6 weeks

The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate inched down this week to its lowest level in six weeks, just as the spring buying season gets underway.

Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac reported Thursday that the average on the benchmark 30-year rate fell for the third straight week, to 6.32%, from 6.42% last week. The average rate a year ago was 4.67%.

The rate for a 15-year mortgage, popular with those refinancing their homes, fell this week to 5.56% from 5.68% last week. It was 3.83% one year ago.

The average long-term mortgage rate hit 7.08% in the fall — a two-decade high.

Rising borrowing costs can add hundreds of dollars a month in costs for homebuyers and put the brakes on the housing market. Before surging 14.5% in February, sales of existing homes had fallen for 12 straight months to the slowest pace in more than a dozen years.

“Over the last several weeks, declining rates have brought borrowers back to the market but, as the spring homebuying season gets underway, low inventory remains a key challenge for prospective buyers,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist.

Former Mastercard CEO to head the World Bank

The Biden administration’s choice to run the World Bank — former Mastercard CEO Ajay Banga — appears to have a lock on the job.

The World Bank said Thursday that Banga was the only candidate nominated in a search that began more than a month ago.

The current president of the 189-nation poverty-fighting organization, David Malpass, announced last month that he would step down in June, nearly a year before his five-year term was due to expire in April 2024.

Banga, currently vice chairman at private equity firm General Atlantic, has more than 30 years of business experience, having served in various roles at Mastercard and the boards of the American Red Cross, Kraft Foods and Dow Inc. He is the first Indian-born nominee to the World Bank president role.

Wall Street bonuses drop 26% in 2021

Average Wall Street bonuses dropped sharply last year to $176,700 amid lagging profits and recession fears, New York state’s comptroller reported Thursday.

The bonuses for employees in New York City’s securities industry dropped 26% from 2021, when the average was a record $240,400, according to New York state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli’s annual estimate. DiNapoli noted that bonuses last year returned to pre-pandemic levels.

“Wall Street’s cash bonuses were expected to fall as several factors weighed on the securities’ industry profitability in 2022,” DiNapoli said in a prepared release.

The comptroller said Wall Street’s pretax profits fell 56% in 2022 due to a sharp decline in investment-banking fees driven by inflation, interest-rate hikes and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The bonus pool for 2022 was $33.7 billion, down 21% from the previous year’s record of $42.7 billion, according to the comptroller.