How mortgage rates hit 18.5% — 40 years ago today - NewsBreak

Forty years ago today, U.S. mortgage rates hit 18.5%. That stunning Oct. 16, 1981 reading of the average, 30-year fixed-rate mortgage came during a period of soaring inflation. A bold move by the Federal Reserve used economic shock therapy to ice consumer prices that were surging 14%. The Fed's tough-love...