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Oct 17, 2025

It's home improvement time

Some homeowners locked in with lower rates may recognize that renovations are less daunting than starting over in this housing market.

Lower interest rates spur home improvement spending
by Savannah Peters
Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
Rates on 30-year mortgages fell again this week to an average of 6.27%, according to Freddie Mac. That could boost consumer spending on home improvements in 2026, new research finds.
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Taking a bite out of a carbon fat croissant
by Amy Scott
Fats are critical for the human diet, but they take a lot of climate-changing resources to produce. Butter comes from methane-emitting cows; palm oil comes from plantations that replace forests. In the newest season of Marketplace’s podcast "How We Survive," host Amy Scott explores solutions to our food and agriculture systems, including the fats of the future.
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