Mortgage interest is the fee you pay for borrowing money to buy a home. It’s calculated as a percentage of the loan amount and is paid over the life of the mortgage. This interest rate can be fixed or adjustable and is added to your monthly payments throughout the loan term.  For example, with a […]

The housing market has been tough in 2024, with stubbornly high mortgage rates keeping many homebuyers on the sidelines. But in August, a light appeared at the end of this tunnel when rates dropped to yearlong lows—below 6.5% for a 30-year fixed home loan. And with the Federal Reserve signaling a much awaited interest rate cut in September that […]

While the Federal Reserve doesn’t directly set mortgage rates, it influences them by making changes to the federal funds rate, the interest rate that banks charge each other for short-term loans. The Fed’s decisions alter the price of credit, which has a domino effect on mortgage rates and the broader housing market.  “When the Fed […]

The City of Mount Vernon and the Mount Vernon Chamber of Commerce continue their free community Summer Concert Series this Thursday from 6pm to 8pm. This week’s featured band: Chris Eger and the Powerhouse Horns. Very few musicians are said to be extraordinary examples of excellence in any one genre of music. Even fewer can […]

Homeownership comes with its surprises — a flooded basement, a busted furnace or a fence damaged by a fallen tree. And when surprises strike, the first question often is: Will my home insurance cover it? But recently the cost of home insurance itself has shocked Washington homeowners.   With some seeing their premiums increase as much […]

The City of Mount Vernon and the Mount Vernon Chamber of Commerce continue their free community Summer Concert Series this Thursday from 6pm to 8pm. This week’s featured band: Pension King and the Dependents. Pension King and the Dependents is a recently formed band made up of four former and current Rockfish staff members: Steve Johnson, a […]

The City of Mount Vernon and the Mount Vernon Chamber of Commerce continue their free community Summer Concert Series this Thursday from 6pm to 8pm. This week’s featured band: The Naughty Blokes. The Naughty Blokes are an all-ages rock-n-roll dance band. They play “Original yet Familiar” tunes and draw from a blend of English Pop […]

Monthly housing payments have dropped to their lowest level in four months, but homebuyers and sellers aren’t yet reacting. In addition to pending home sales falling, new listings posted their smallest increase in three months.  The median U.S. monthly housing payment was $2,667 during the four weeks ending July 28, its lowest level since March. […]

The City of Mount Vernon and the Mount Vernon Chamber of Commerce continue their free community Summer Concert Series this Thursday from 6pm to 8pm. This week’s featured band: Eden.

Millions of renter households in 2022 would have been able to buy a house that year, according to Zillow, which is based on estimates from the American Community Survey by the U.S. Census Bureau. In 2022, 39% of the 134 million families residing in the U.S. did not own the home they lived in, according […]