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