"Interest rates for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages fell for the 10th week ... due in part to the Federal Reserve's recent purchases of mortgage-backed securities issued by Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae and Ginnie Mae," says Freddie Mac Chief Economist Frank Nothaft.

Other rates also dropped for the week:

• 15-year fixed rates: dropped to 4.62 percent from 4.83 percent last week. Last year at this time 15-year mortgage rates averaged 5.43 percent.
• 5-year hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 5.49 percent, a drop from 5.57 percent last week.

Freddie Mac began tracking rates in 1971.

Source: The Wall Street Journal, Amy Hoak (1/09/09)

Labels: Mortgage Rates

Labels: Mortgage Rates

Lower mortgage rates encouraged more applications, pushing the Mortgage Bankers Association applications index up 11.9 percent on an adjusted basis from 379.9 the previous week to 425 last week.

On an unadjusted basis, the index increased 10.5 percent compared with the previous week and was down 40 percent compared with the same week a year ago.

Refinances increased 16.1 percent while conventional purchases rose 6.5 percent and purchases using government loans jumped 15.3 percent.According to the association, 30-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 6.24 percent from 6.47 percent; 15-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 5.90 percent from 6.14 percent; 1-year ARMs decreased to 6.18 percent from 6.86 percent.

Source: Mortgage Bankers Association (11/13/2008)

Labels: Finance, Mortgage Rates, Mortgages

Rates are pulled back by about 1/8 of a percent from last week, and the bond market seems to be settling down a bit with less volatility. The Federal Reserve meets Tuesday and Wednesday. The futures markets are indicating that the FED is not expected to raise short-term (Prime) rates. Although most analysts agree that they are collectively addressing inflation fears. My personal feeling is that rates might move slightly lower after the Fed meeting.

Labels: Finance, Mortgage Rates