Scott Olson | Getty ImagesClimbing mortgage rates are hitting both potential homebuyers and refinance candidates. Total mortgage applications decreased 13.1% last week to their, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Refis dropped 15% last week. Home prices have been climbing steadily during Covid and didn't let up last year. The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Home Price Index rose 18.8% nationally in 2021 compared with a 10.4% gain in 2020.
its citizens to leave Russia. Ukraine is also set to impose a state of emergency. Hopes for a diplomatic way out of a new, potentially devastating war appeared to fade as the U.S. and key allies on Tuesday levied punitive economic measures and accused Moscow of crossing a red line by rolling over Ukraine's border into the separatist Luhansk and Donetsk regions. Russia on Monday recognized the independence of those breakaway areas. The U.S.