A brief history of the mortgage, from its roots in ancient Rome to the English 'dead pledge' and its rebirth in America

(Version anglaise seulement)

par Michael J. Highfield, Professor of Finance and Warren Chair of Real Estate Finance, Mississippi State University

The average interest rate for a new U.S. 30-year fixed-rate mortgage topped 7% in late October 2022 for the first time in more than two decades. It’s a sharp increase from one year earlier, when lenders were charging homebuyers only 3.09% for the same kind of loan.

Several factors, including inflation…