Personal Finance

For the week ending July 10, 2026, seasonally adjusted mortgage application volume fell 2.7 percent, driven by a 7 percent drop in purchase applications, as the average 30-year fixed rate rose to 6.65 percent, its highest since August 2025. Refinance activity bucked the trend, rising 4 percent week-over-week and 7 percent year-over-year, with FHA and VA refinance applications up 9 and 10 percent respectively. The data illustrates how rising rates are suppressing new home purchase demand while government-backed refinance channels remain comparatively active.

The IRS raised its standard business mileage rate to 76 cents per mile for travel on or after July 1, 2026, the highest rate ever published and only the fourth mid-year adjustment in roughly two decades. The medical and moving rate rose to 23.5 cents, while the statutory charitable rate held at 14 cents. Taxpayers may apply the new rates to all 2026 miles or split the year, and employers using the federal rate as a reimbursement benchmark will need to update payroll systems accordingly.

The CFPB's rewritten Regulation B takes effect Monday, shifting federal fair-lending enforcement from outcome-based statistical testing to proof of discriminatory intent, while a pending federal lawsuit and guidance from at least 23 states preserving disparate-impact requirements create a split compliance landscape. Lenders operating across state lines must now maintain two parallel fair-lending frameworks: a narrowed federal standard under Regulation B and state-law disparate-impact obligations in jurisdictions including New York, California, and Massachusetts. No federal court has issued a stay as of mid-July, so the rule is on schedule, though a preliminary injunction motion in National Fair Housing Alliance v. CFPB remains undecided.

NAR's June 2026 report shows existing-home sales slipped to a 4.09 million annual rate while the median sale price hit an all-time high of $440,600, extending a 36-month streak of year-over-year price gains. Affordability nonetheless improved, with the Housing Affordability Index rising to 102.3 from 95.5 a year earlier as wage growth outpaced the 1.8% annual price increase. Regional performance diverged sharply, with the South posting the steepest monthly sales decline at 3.6% and the Northeast the only region to record a monthly sales gain.

As of mid-July 2026, Forbright Bank's Growth Savings account leads national high-yield savings at 4.15% APY with no minimum deposit, a rate matched by top six-month CDs from Limelight Bank and Popular Direct. Futures markets assign a 91.1% probability that the FOMC will hold the federal funds rate steady at its July 28-29 meeting, meaning retail deposit rates are unlikely to shift in the near term. Both figures matter for savers deciding whether to keep cash liquid or lock into a CD now rather than wait for a policy signal that is unlikely to come.

As of mid-July 2026, default cash sweeps at Schwab, Vanguard, and Fidelity pay between 0.01% and 1.84% APY, while higher-yielding alternatives within the same brokerages pay 3.26% to 3.65% and leading online savings accounts pay up to 4.15%. For a $50,000 balance, the gap between Schwab's default sweep and a top high-yield savings account costs an estimated $2,070 per year in foregone interest. Accessing better rates at each brokerage requires only an account setting change or a fund purchase, not a new financial relationship.