REACH AIR BAG PACT:

30-YEAR MORTGAGE

RATE HITS NEW LOW: U.S. long-term mortgage rates slipped this week as the key 30-year loan marked an all-time low for the 11th time this year. Home loan rates have notched a yearlong decline amid economic anxiety in the recession set off by the coronavirus pandemic. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac reported Thursday that the average rate on the 30-year benchmark loan edged down to 2.80 percent from 2.81 percent last week. By contrast, the rate averaged 3.75 percent a year ago

HEDGE FUND LEAVING

NEW YORK: For more than 40 years, Paul Singer has helped cement New York City’s reputation as a global financial capital as the founder of Elliott Management, a hedge fund with $41 billion in assets whose offices overlook Central Park. But on Wednesday, Singer, a billionaire who is one of the wealthiest people in the United States, revealed that he was moving his firm’s headquarters from Midtown Manhattan to West Palm Beach, Fla., prompted the pandemic and the uncertainty over the future of Manhattan offices. Singer himself, however, will remain in the Northeast, and Elliott will keep offices and some employees in New York.

EXISTING HOME SALES

CLIMB: Sales of existing homes climbed 9.4 percent in September, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday. On a seasonally adjusted rate, the selling pace of existing homes climbed to 6.54 million annualized units. That is the highest level for that metric since February 2006, at the peak of the previous housing bubble. The figure was well above economists’ expectations as well. The median selling price of a home also climbed to $311,800, up 15 percent from a year earlier.

Honda has agreed to a $5 million settlement with Arizona over allegations that it failed to disclose defects in air bags that led to two deaths there. Attorney General Mark Brnovich announced the settlement over the faulty airbag systems manufactured by Takata and used in certain Honda and Acura cars. Under the agreement, roughly $1.7 million will go toward consumer restitution in Arizona. Another $2.1 million will pay for a gift card program incentivizing owners to get their air bags replaced.