Rising interest rates slow down housing sales

The super-low mortgage rates that tens of millions of Americans locked in during the refinancing boom are now discouraging many of these borrowers from buying another home and giving up those loans. The multi-year refinancing craze, which included some of the lowest rates ever recorded, freed up cash for borrowers to sink into the economy. But refinancing activity began petering out last spring, and rates have been rising ever since. The average rate on a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage hit 4.32 pe...