Mortgage rates fall again in US: 15-year stands at 5.57%, 30-year at 6.61%
This means that a $100,000 loan with an interest rate of 5.57% would require a monthly payment of about $821, excluding taxes and insurance, per the report. Meanwhile, the total interest costs over the life of a 15-year mortgage would be around $48,224.
Also Read: Silver prices in US today: Holding above $36 per ounce, may go higher soon Jumbo mortgage rate
The average rate for a 30-year fixed jumbo mortgage is 6.94%. Last week, it was 6.95%. A jumbo loan is a mortgage that is bigger than the loan limit set by the FHFA for that area. Mortgage rate trends in 2025
Rates dropped somewhat after spring 2024, then started rising again in October. Even with the Federal Reserve cutting its Fed Funds rate in September, November, and December 2024, rates increased. Rates began to decrease again in January 2025, but mortgage experts say do not expect rates to fall significantly more anytime soon.
Also Read: Gold price today in US: $3,352 steady ahead of June 2025 jobs report What affects mortgage rates?
Generally, mortgage rates are correlated with US Treasury bond yields. When yields fall, mortgage rates fall too. The Fed's actions also play a part. If prices increase or the economy declines, the Fed could reduce interest rates. An example of this happened during the COVID-19 pandemic, when rates hit record lows.
With that said, there is no widespread expectation for another significant drop in mortgage rates going forward. But should the inflation decrease or the economy slow further, lower rates can be expected, per the report.
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Time of India
2 hours ago
- Time of India
'India has navigated uncertainty very well, exports may top $870bn': Piyush Goyal
Piyush Goyal Despite global challenges, commerce & industry minister Piyush Goyal expects exports to scale a new high this year, aided by FTAs. While remaining upbeat on growth, he tells Sidhartha that investment is flowing into several sectors. He is pushing for a review of FTAs with Asean and Japan and is cautious on China. Excerpts: How much export growth is expected this year given the global uncertainty? In the last 11 years of Modi govt, India has navigated uncertainty and volatility quite well. Total exports soared to a record $825 billion in 2024-25, growing over 6%, and sustaining a robust 5.8% CAGR over the past decade. We have seen a remarkable 20% CAGR during the past decade in electronics, and traditional sectors such as engineering and pharmaceuticals have done well. From 2019-20 to 2024-25, goods exports have seen a CAGR of 6.9%, despite the Covid period. From 2019 to 2023, because country-wise data is available up to 2023, commercial services exports registered a CAGR of 12%. Going forward, we may be able to maintain 5-6% growth in goods, especially non-petroleum exports, while services may grow 9-10%. If we can achieve that we are looking at crossing $870 billion in the current year, despite the global problems. Our focus is more and more on value-added and labour-intensive goods and services exports. How much help will come from FTAs? India has deepened its footprint with FTAs with the UAE, Australia, EFTA and the UK, reshaping our trade dynamics. FTAs do make an impact. With the UAE, services exports have almost doubled in the last four-five years. In Australia, it has nearly tripled. On the goods side too we have grown very well, in Australia's case at 25%, we have crossed $8 billion, while we were tottering at $3 billion earlier. The same is not true of the ones signed during UPA. Services export to Japan is slowing down. We did not get very wide coverage in areas of interest for India. It's a sad situation and I hope that our efforts for a review will bear fruit. Japan has not agreed to it and a South Korea review is underway. Now, we sign FTAs after extensive stakeholder consultation and for the Modi govt, national interest is paramount. The Modi govt opted out of RCEP. In hindsight, was it a sensible thing to do since many experts still argue that India should have joined it? Before the decision, we held 200 consultations with stakeholders on RCEP and the benefits of joining it, only three suggested we should join. PM Modi showed decisive leadership and sensitivities for our fishermen, farmers, industry and entrepreneurs. He recognised that it was nothing but FTA between India and China because we had agreements with the others. We have signed ECTA with Australia and we should be able to finalise an agreement with New Zealand in the next few months. Just this week at a meeting with exporters, the issue came up and not one of them suggested that we should join. The Asean FTA is under review. Are you satisfied with the pace or is there a sense of frustration? We can do much better and I am hopeful that both Korea and Asean will recognise the asymmetries in the FTAs signed 15 years ago and will make them more contemporary, fair, balanced and equitable. Your recent comments on the Asean agreement stirred a controversy. Do you see Chinese goods and investments getting routed through some of the countries that are part of the bloc? When the US announced its agreement with Vietnam, it focused on transshipment of goods from other countries. Every day we get cases of sub-standard goods coming in, predatory pricing being deployed for exports and to kill Indian industry. We are working on strengthening Make in India, supporting Indian industry wherever it is hurt by predaTOI tory pricing and focusing on Quality Control Orders. Does the focus on China+1 remain in the US? It appears to be working on a two-pronged strategy. While recognising that it cannot decouple completely from China, it is also working on strengthening the supply chain. Are there opportunities for India? Clearly, India is a much sought after destination for investments, there are collaborations for technology. In the maritime sector, India is recognised as a shipbuilding destination and govt is also coming up with measures to support it. Semiconductors is a success story of the Modi govt. We have seen significant increase in domestic value addition in the sectors where we offered PLI. Despite the focus on reducing imports from China, the trade deficit is near $100 billion. What is being done to check that? During the 10 years of UPA, India's trade deficit with China grew nearly 25 times, but has expanded 1.75 times between 2014-15 and 202324. We have managed to bring some reasonable controls. Electrical equipment, machinery, organic chemicals and plastics are our major imports. Between 2019-20 and 2023-24, there has been an increase in import of these items from China, but there is also a corresponding increase in exports, showing that several items imported from China are raw material, inputs or capital goods used for making finished products in India. Is there a reluctance to allow Indian goods in China? There are several non-tariff barriers, including language and procedural delays. Many industries just don't buy from India even when our products are competitive. Getting more market access is an area in which we are working with China through our embassy. Periodically, China has erected restrictions, whether it is export of rare earth magnets, fertilizer or tunnel boring machines, and recently recalled engineers. Yet, there are demands from Indian industry to lift some of the checks on investment from China, on visas and on apps. Given that there is now engagement with China at the ministerial level, if China is willing to engage on fair terms on trade, India will be willing to talks and see how we can work towards a more mutually beneficial and a fair trading system. Are the conditions conducive to lifting some of the checks? Time will tell. There are indications of a slowdown in the first quarter. As the minister in-charge of industry, what will be your strategy to accelerate growth in the industrial sector? We are already seeing an uptick and rural demand has shown significant improvement. You may see a jump in growth in the second half of the year. I see no difficulty in closing the year with RBI's 6.5% growth which will make us the fastest growing economy. Weak capex by the private sector is a major concern. When do you see an improvement in investments? It varies across sectors. There is a lot of interest in investments in sectors that have domestic demand and there is import substitution, such as steel. There are plans to invest Rs 20 lakh crore in 10 years; cement is an ever-green sector as demand and production grow every year. Auto parts, sanitaryware are seeing large investments and there is confidence that Indian companies can compete with anyone. There are some focus areas like white goods, where demand is growing very fast on the back of tax cuts, growing income levels and the finance minister also spoke of GST reduction recently. Auto sector is growing rapidly and our efforts in electronics are showing results. Some of the investment going into GCCs may not be fully captured. While gross FDI inflows have grown, there was an increase in remittances and outward FDI last year. How will you step up overall FDI flows? With the outflow of investment, India is also building an asset base and its own presence in different sectors across the world, which in the long run will be our strength. What changes are you planning on SEZ regulations? There are certain suggestions that will help SEZ units increase their capacity utilisation and help meet the demand that is currently being serviced by some of the FTA countries. We are working with the requisite departments, and we should be able to come up with the changes by the end of the year. Quality control orders have been a focus. What is the rationale and benefit when a section of industry is objecting to them? We are emphasising on QCOs to implement the PM's vision of zero defect-zero effect manufacturing. Technical regulations have been strengthened to promote a strong quality ecosystem in India, enhance product safety for consumers, prevent the import of substandard goods, protect the environment and attract investment. It acts as a nudge to produce quality products in India. How is the progress on industrial corridors and when will you be ready with the plan for 100 industrial parks? In Dholera, Shendra-Bidkin, Greater Noida and Vikram Udyogpuri, over 4,200 acres have been allotted and 76% of the developed industrial land is now under committed use. Each city is emerging as an industrial powerhouse: Dholera has emerged as the future semicon city of India, ShendraBidkin in Maharashtra is evolving into an automotive and EV hub. Of the 12 new projects approved by the govt last Aug, tenders have been floated and our target is to get the ground activity started by OctNov. As for the industrial parks, the blueprint is at an advanced stage. They are proposed to be developed and implemented through independent special purpose vehicles in collaboration between the Centre, states and wherever applicable, private players. There will be a single window system for approvals and plug-and-play infrastructure will be maintained.
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Business Standard
3 hours ago
- Business Standard
Best of BS Opinion: Post-Op Sindoor, India must plan five years ahead
Hello and welcome to BS Views, your doorway to today's opinion page. Today's articles revolve around the idea of succession, whether it's the US Federal Reserve's chief, a Pakistani general following in his predecessor's footsteps, a deputy chief minister waiting for his turn at the top job, or even the Dalai Lama's power to choose who will take over from him. Read on! Kenneth Rogoff points out that US President Donald Trump has found a fiendishly clever way to rein in the next Fed chair, who is theoretically independent of the White House. Trump is rumoured to be planning for his Fed chair-in-waiting to establish a 'shadow' Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) that would pressure the real FOMC to cut interest rates more aggressively. That plan, though, could backfire. Besides, monetary policymakers are hardly likely to take note of a shadow chair any more than they do the President himself. His real goal, then. seems to be to weaken the next Fed chief by forcing them into a kind of public apprenticeship; any sign of independent thinking could cause Trump to reprise his famous reality-show catchphrase: 'You're fired.' Those who forget history are forced to repeat it, argues Shekhar Gupta, pointing out post-Operation Sindoor lessons from a short war fought in Kutch nearly half a century ago. Then, like now, a truce was called soon, but the first full India-Pakistan war broke out after merely five months. This, he writes, was because Pakistan simply cannot digest a defeat, unless it is an overwhelming one; a smaller war and a truce convince it to come back with a bigger attack. And now, Pak army chief Asim Munir is more than likely itching for a big fight. India can't time it, but happen it will, sooner or later. For now, India must have a graded plan for six months, two years, and five years, the last of which should be the deadline to build deterrence to a level where no Pakistani general will feel the same temptations as Munir. Our national resolution, he writes, has to be that if we get five years, there will never be an occasion when India will be outranked, out-gunned or out-watched in a conflict with Pakistan even for a few hours, despite the Chinese. This, he says, is an all-hands-on-the-deck moment. Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's declaration that 2023 would be the last elections he would contest hit the right notes, getting him the top job in the state. But it would appear he has had a change of heart, writes Aditi Phadnis after seeing the events of the past few days. With deputy CM DK Shivakumar making no effort to hide his ambitions, Siddaramaiah seems all the more inclined to hold on to his seat. Why else would a deputy chief minister publicly say that he has no option but to let the CM continue? Especially when, given the state's political tradition, he realises it could be a while before he gets his chance to be CM. Chintan Girish Modi looks back at the flight of the Dalai Lama from Tibet to India, and the subsequent years that he and his people have had to spend in exile - if one may call it that, given that India is practically home to generations of Tibetans. Indeed, living in India has helped Tibetans preserve their religion, culture and language, so much so that a new Nechung Monastery - the original, which is the seat of the eponymous oracle, is just outside Lhasa - was built in Dharamsala, close to the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives, and the offices of the Tibetan government in exile. Being in India has also helped the Dalai Lama teach and train a new generation of Lamas who are able to carry his message to the world at large. As he turns 90, India has also pushed firmly back against China, saying the Dalai Lama alone has the authority to decide his successor. This past week threw up an interesting debate about cultural appropriation, writes Sandeep Goyal, in the wake of Italian fashion house Prada showcasing the humble Kolhapuri chappal as some kind of couture footwear. Never ones to take such slights lying down, the Indian internet's combined outrage over 'cultural appropriation' forced Prada to acknowledge the origins of said footwear. While there have been similar incidents in the past - dupattas, jute bags, lungis, block-prints - the columnist wonders where one draws the line between appropriation and inspiration? In fashion, especially, it can be hard to pin down. In many cases, he says, culture and fashion are compatriots, one feeds off the other, and one shouldn't see them beyond that.
Time of India
3 hours ago
- Time of India
From Free Power to EVs: Punjab's power demand set to soar to 1.26 LMU by 2036.
With box attached in CCI Chandigarh: Electricity demand in Punjab is projected to soar to 1,26,347 million units (MU) by financial year 2036, driven by industrial expansion, increased household consumption, and a sharp rise in electric vehicle (EV) adoption. A new study urges the state to undergo a major energy transition — cutting dependence on fossil fuels, ramping up renewables, and upgrading infrastructure — to avoid power shortages and environmental setbacks. State's industrial ambition are still tied to old-school energy. The report, 'Punjab Roadmap 2036: Clean Energy Transition', published by the Centre for Study of Science, Technology and Policy (CSTEP), projects a 68% increase from the state's current demand of 75,316 MU in FY 2025. Peak power demand is expected to rise from 16,058 MW in 2025 to 27,040 MW by 2036. Punjab has already experienced power deficits in FY 2022 and 2023 — 404 MU and 330 MU respectively — following a post-Covid industrial revival and the rollout of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) govt's 300-unit free power scheme for households. Despite having an installed generation capacity of 14,861 MW, the state heavily depends on thermal power, which accounts for 56% of its energy mix. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 5 Books Warren Buffett Wants You to Read In 2025 Blinkist: Warren Buffett's Reading List Undo Solar and wind make up just 18%, while hydro contributes 23%. Nuclear and other non-conventional sources remain marginal. The study calls for capacity additions of 26,372 MW by the 2036 fiscal, including 7,451 MW of energy storage through pumped hydro and battery systems to handle the intermittency of renewable energy sources. Electric vehicles are expected to further reshape Punjab's energy landscape. From just 75 EVs registered in 2017, the number rose to 25,492 in 2023, and is projected to reach 51 lakh by 2036. EV adoption is forecast to push electricity demand up by 9,087 MU. By 2030, EVs are expected to account for 30% of all new vehicle registrations, rising to 60% by FY 2036. The roadmap calls for grid infrastructure upgrades to accommodate this shift, along with public and private EV charging networks. Renewable shift, nuclear support To reduce dependence on fossil fuels, the report recommends a 67% renewable energy share by 2036 under a 'clean energy scenario', up from 46% in the 'business-as-usual' model. This shift could cut carbon emissions by 41%, reduce power purchase costs by 7.7%, and eliminate the need for about 7% of new power plants. The state is also advised to procure 2,637 MW of nuclear power to ensure consistent supply, during peak demand periods or low renewable output particularly. Land, rooftop solar, & farming Punjab's reliance on agriculture and its limited availability of non-fertile land pose challenges for large-scale renewable projects. To address this, the report urges the identification of barren or unused land for solar and wind farms. As of April 2025, the state had only 454 MW of installed rooftop solar capacity — far below potential. The roadmap suggests accelerating rooftop solar programmes, deploying smart meters, and enforcing Energy Conservation Building Codes. In the agriculture sector, the study recommends replacing 22% of inefficient irrigation pump sets with energy-efficient, star-rated alternatives by 2036, supported by a buy-back and subsidy scheme. Solarisation of pump sets is also highlighted as a key strategy to reduce the state's energy burden. Officials say the clean energy path requires higher initial investment but promises long-term economic, environmental, and energy security benefits. Punjab's energy transformation, experts say, will depend not only on technology and investment — but on political will and public participation to power the shift toward a cleaner, more resilient grid. For in the end, it's not just wires and will, but politics, people, and the power bill. box Two Pathways, One Decision The study outlines two scenarios for Punjab's energy future:- >> Business-as-Usual | 46% renewables, 54% fossil fuels, with demand reaching 1,26,347 MU and emissions at 41 MtCO2 >> Clean Energy Scenario | 67% renewables, 33% fossil fuels, with demand moderated to 1,22,271 MU and emissions cut to 30 MtCO2 — a 4% annual decline box Key Recommendations >> Identify non-fertile land for solar/wind projects >> Invest in 7,451 MW of energy storage (pumped hydro + battery) >> Procure 2,637 MW of nuclear energy >> Scale rooftop solar, smart metering, and green building codes >> Introduce green finance, buy-back of inefficient farm pumps MSID:: 122251659 413 |
