highest

Rising borrowing costs have pushed mortgage applications to lowest level since February 2025.

Mortgage rates in the United States have hit their highest level in nearly three years, as cost-of-living concerns weigh on Americans less than a month before the midterm elections.

The average cost for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage jumped 19 basis points to 7.49 percent for the week ending October 2 , according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s weekly report released on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, applications for mortgages tumbled 4.2 percent from the previous week, according to the report. Applications are at their lowest level since February 2025 and have fallen by almost half since the beginning of the year.

“Very few homeowners have an incentive to refinance at these rates, and the jump in borrowing costs has caused many potential borrowers to step back from the purchase market,” Joel Kan, vice president and deputy chief economist at the Mortgage Bankers Association, said in a press release.

Mortgage rates are closely tied to US 10-year Treasury notes. Earlier this week, those hit a 24-year high of 5.3 percent amid surging oil prices tied to ongoing tensions with Iran.

Meanwhile, the yield on 30-year Treasury bonds rose to its highest level since 2002, at 5.7 percent on Wednesday.

Mortgage rates have jumped since late February, when the US and Israel first struck Iran. Since the strikes, mortgage rates have climbed 1.4 percent. Inflation, which has risen by 3.4 percent from a year ago, is also putting pressure on mortgage rates.

It comes as the cost of living is top of mind for voters as they approach the congressional midterm elections that could decide the balance of power in Washington, DC. According to a Reuters/Ipsos poll in late August, 47 percent of voters said that the cost of living was the single most important issue ahead of the midterms.

In a separate Reuters/Ipsos poll in September, 17 percent of voters said they approved of US President Donald Trump’s handling of cost of living-related issues.

CSA T20 Challenge, Bloemfontein

Titans 267-3 (20 overs): Pretorius 188* (79); Boast 1-46

Knights 143 (17.2 overs): Cloete 39 (25); Ferreira 3-16

Titans won by 124 runs

Scorecard

Lhuan-dre Pretorius has broken Chris Gayle’s record for the highest score in a men’s T20 match with an unbeaten 188 in a domestic fixture in South Africa.

The 20-year-old South African’s knock off 79 deliveries, including 13 sixes and 15 fours, helped Titans post 267-3 against Knights in the CSA T20 Challenge.

It eclipsed the 175 made by Gayle for Royal Challengers Bangalore (now Bengaluru) against Pune Warriors in the 2013 Indian Premier League.

Pretorius, who has played 17 T20s, three one-dayers and two Tests for South Africa, finished with a strike rate of 237.97.

He made his half-century off 24 balls but only required 16 more balls to get to three figures and then got to 150 off just 58 deliveries.

Titans then bowled out Knights for 143 to wrap up an emphatic 124-run victory at the Mangaung Oval in Bloemfontein.