More than 43.5 million U.S. properties are at moderate or greater risk from hail damage, representing about $17.84 trillion in reconstruction cost value, according to Cotality’s 2026 Severe Convective Storm Risk Report released Tuesday. The report finds that hailstorms are emerging as one of the most financially destructive natural hazards for the housing market, with […]

With little to suggest that the U.S.-Iran conflict will end soon — and with crude-oil prices rising to more than $100 per barrel — mortgage rates took a beating in the past week as Treasury yields rose to their highest point since last July. Mortgage News Daily (MND) reported that 30-year fixed rates averaged 6.49%

March 2026 continues to be an unpleasant month for mortgage rates–a fact almost exclusively due to the Iran war. Even if the war were to end today, there’s been sufficient disruption to infrastructure and a big enough initial spike in energy prices to create what economists refer to as “second round effects.” In simpler terms,