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A for sale sign stands outside a home on Wednesday, April 3, 2024, in Denver. Holding out for more attractive mortgage rates could give homebuyers some financial breathing room. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
U.S. mortgage rates declined below 7% last week for the first time since March, spurring back-to-back increases in financing applications for home purchases.
The contract rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage decreased 8 basis points to 6.94% in the week ended June 14, according to Mortgage Bankers Association data released Wednesday. The five-year adjustable-rate mortgage slid 18 basis points to 6.27%, matching the lowest level since February.
The index of mortgage applications to buy a home increased 1.6% to the highest level since March after jumping 8.6% in the prior week.
MBA’s overall index of applications, which includes those for home purchases and refinancing, advanced 0.9% last week to the highest since mid-January. The group’s refinancing gauge slipped 0.4%.
US chipmaker invests $2B in Czech Republic
The U.S. chipmaker onsemi is planning a multi-year investment of up $2 billion in its production facility in the Czech Republic, the company and the Czech government said on Wednesday.
The government said the money will be invested in the company’s existing production facility in the eastern Czech town of Roznov pod Radhostem. It’s the biggest single foreign investment in the country since the split of Czechoslovakia in 1993.
The company based in Scottsdale, Arizona, currently produces 10 million chips a day in Roznov.
The investment would increase production by hundreds of percent, the government said. It said the number of jobs created in Roznov will increase to 3,000 from the current 1,700.
The company said the move “would solidify advanced power semiconductor supply chain for its European and global customer base.”
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