🚀 Mortgage demand rising despite increasing rates

Market Overview
Read time 1.4 minutes

Year To Date Performances:

1. Despite elevated interest rates, mortgage demand from homebuyers rose for the second week in a row, with purchase applications up 2% week-over-week and 18% year-over-year, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate ticked up slightly to 6.86%, yet buyers appear motivated by a growing supply of homes—active listings are now 14% higher than this time last year. First-time and lower-income buyers are also driving gains, with government-backed loan applications jumping nearly 5% in a week and 40% over the year. Refinancing activity, however, dipped 0.4% for the week.

2. U.S. President Donald Trump announced in Riyadh that he would lift sanctions on Syria, marking a dramatic policy shift following the ousting of Bashar al-Assad and the rise of Ahmed al-Sharaa, a self-proclaimed reformed former al-Qaeda member, as Syria’s new transitional president. Trump met with al-Sharaa alongside Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and, via phone, Turkish President Erdogan—leaders credited with brokering the diplomatic opening. The White House said Trump encouraged al-Sharaa to join the Abraham Accords, expel terrorist groups, and assume control of Islamic State detention centers, portraying the move as a chance for Syria to “do something historic.” The U.S. has designated Syria a state sponsor of terrorism since 1979, and the war-torn country has been under successive waves of sanctions since 2004.

3. Could This Company Do for Housing What Tesla Did for Cars? BOXABL believes they have the potential to disrupt a massive and outdated trillion dollar building construction market by bringing assembly line automation to the home industry. Since securing their initial prototype order from SpaceX and a subsequent project order of 156 homes from the Department of Defense, BOXABL has raised over $170M from over 40,000 investors since 2020. They recently achieved a significant milestone: raising over 50% of their Reg A+ funding limit! BOXABL is now only accepting investment on their website until the Reg A+ is full. Invest now before it’s too late. *

4. Silicon Valley's leading AI firms, once hubs of cutting-edge academic research, are now prioritizing speed and profits over safety, according to a growing number of industry insiders. After the blockbuster success of Chatgpt, companies like Meta, Google, and OpenAI have shifted away from open-ended exploration to focus on monetizable products, often releasing AI models before fully vetting their risks. Meta has sidelined its FAIR research lab in favour of its GenAI product division, while Google delayed transparency disclosures for its Gemini 2.5 model and removed claims of pre-release safety checks from its blog. Experts warn that AI systems are becoming more powerful, but also more vulnerable to misuse.

5. Headlines

   1. The S&P 500 is back in the green in 2025 despite the US still having significant tariffs on numerous countries around the globe.

   2. Waymo recalled 1,200 of its self-driving vehicles due to a series of minor collisions.

   _{* Disclosure: This is a paid advertisement for BOXABL’s Regulation A offering. Please read the offering circular here. This is a message from BOXABL.}

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Onwards and Upwards,

Liam Gill