US Mortgage Rates Fall Again, Triggering Wave of Refinancings

Applications to refinance mortgages surged for a second week as more Americans capitalized on the cheapest borrowing costs in two years. The Mortgage Bankers Association’s refinancing index jumped 20.3% in the week ended Sept. 20 to the highest level since April 2022, the group said Wednesday. The contract rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage eased 2 basis points to 6.13%, the eighth straight weekly drop and the longest stretch of declines since 2018-2019. That helped boost the group’s home-purchase applications index by 1.4% last week to the highest level since early February. The fifth straight weekly advance in the measure points to burgeoning demand in a housing market that’s gradually finding some footing.

An internal Boeing survey found many factory workers still felt pressure to prioritize speed over quality months after a midair blowout on one of the company’s jets sparked a crisis of confidence in the planemaker. According to the survey conducted with about 2,100 Boeing workers in May—four months after a fuselage panel blew off a 737 Max aircraft—less than half of frontline manufacturing personnel stated that schedule pressures didn’t cause their team to lower standards. The revelation shows that workers continued to feel pressure to cut corners even after Boeing’s campaign to overhaul its safety culture was well underway.