The average mortgage payment being offered to buyers in Massachusetts is the third highest in the nation, according to data compiled by LendingTree.

The analysis looked at mortgage offers on the company’s platform across all fifty states. The national average came in at $2,317. The average in Massachusetts was $3,021, behind only Hawaii and California at $3,696, and $3,399 respectively.

“Unfortunately even as the housing market cools and prices fall in some areas, mortgage payments are likely to remain steep for most new buyers, at least compared to where they were over the pandemic,” LendingTree’s Senior Economist and report author, Jacob Channel.  “This is because mortgage rates are poised to remain relatively high for some time while prices aren’t likely to drop drastically in most parts of the country.”

A Missouri broker-dealer will be required to pay a $2.5 million fine and more than $700,000 in restitution after allegedly failing to prevent one of its agents from taking advantage of Massachusetts customers.

Secretary of State William Galvin, who oversees the securities division, announced Monday a consent order with Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Inc., which was previously ordered to pay $400,000 in fines related to a pair of consent orders in 2018 and 2021.

The secretary’s office said a former agent of the broker-dealer, Joseph Crespi, deployed “predatory” sales practices with elderly, nonprofit and church clients to boost commissions over a years-long period. Crespi was suspected of making trades not authorized by clients, in one case involving a deceased client’s account, according to Galvin’s office.