Mortgage Rates

Mortgage giant Freddie Max reports the interest rate on 30-year mortgages have fallen to their lowest levels in more than 50 years. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.15 percent for the week ending today.  A 15-year fixed rate loan fell to 3.36 percent. Freddie Mac's chief economist credits the Fed's pledge to keep rates low for two years as one reason for the favorable terms. Plus, jitters over the European debt crisis also contributed to low rates.  

My first memories of The Baltimore Sun go back to 1982, when my wife and I were planning to move to Baltimore from Massachusetts. In the days before the Internet, home buyers turned to The Sun 's classified ads to get their arms around the range of housing alternatives. Thirty years ago was not only a time when The Sun 's real estate section was the go-to source for home listings, but it was also a time of low-teens mortgage rates and a housing crisis (albeit not quite as bad as our most recent crisis)

Blame Greece's debt crisis for contributing to the recent drop in your stock portfolio, but give it credit for something that could benefit consumers: lower mortgage rates. Last week, rates on fixed-rate mortgages fell to their lowest level this year, while rates on adjustable-rate loans dipped to a point not seen for years, according to a weekly survey by mortgage giant Freddie Mac. The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage slipped to 4.93 percent last week, down from 5 percent the week before and down to the lowest level since early December.

Wells Fargo borrowers potentially eligible for mortgage rate reductions under the national settlement with big banks are being notified this month, Maryland's attorney general said Friday. The lender is mailing out rate-reduction offers in waves, meaning that some borrowers already might have received their letter, said the office of Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler. In a statement, Gansler urged homeowners to "respond as soon as possible. " Those who don't get an offer in the mail by the end of May but think they're eligible should call the bank at 800-288-3212, he added.

The average rate on a benchmark 30-year fixed mortgage rose to 5.83 percent in the U.S. last week, staying close to a five-month low, according to Freddie Mac, the second-biggest purchaser of home loans The 30-year rate increased from 5.77 percent a week earlier, the lowest since 5.52 percent during the week that ended April 2. The one-year adjustable rate rose to 4 percent from 3.97 percent, the McLean, Va.-based company said in a statement. Interest rates increased after the Labor Department reported this month that employers added 144,000 workers to payrolls last month, twice as many as in July.

The average U.S. 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose for the eighth time in nine weeks, reflecting the continued rise in long-term bond yields, Freddie Mac said. Other rates also climbed. The 30-year rate for the week that ended Friday averaged 6.28 percent, up from 6.24 percent the week before, the No. 2 buyer of mortgages reported. The average rate on a 15-year mortgage rose to 5.60 percent from 5.58 percent, and the average one-year adjustable-rate mortgage climbed to 3.84 percent from 3.75 percent.

What is the Federal Reserve doing to Maryland?After boosting its key interest rates four times in as many months, a total of 1.25 points since February, the Fed has become a target of elected officials in a state that is only slowly and partially recovering from recession.State Comptroller Louis L. Goldstein, the latest to join the fray, set forth last month a measured argument based on the impact rising mortgage interest rates can have on housing construction. Before speaking out, he had a staff economist analyze 10 years of data, from 1983 to 1993.

Maryland mortgage interest rates have fallen by a half-percentage point in three weeks, a welcome boost for the state's recovery and the first relief from soaring home-financing costs this year.For Maryland's economy, which has been lagging behind the national recovery for nearly three years as its traditional mainstays such as defense, financial institutions and health care have been hard hit, mortgage rates are even more critical than in other states."The fundamentals suggest lower long-term interest rates ahead, and that is very good news for Maryland, which has come to depend so heavily on housing construction to beef up its precarious recovery," said Charles McMillion, president of MBG Information Services, a Washington consulting firm that tracks the state economy.

Mortgage rates have dipped to a 14-year low. So if you're planning to refinance, now is a good time.Here are some tips to help avoid a fight with Uncle Sam.* If you pay points to refinance, you may deduct them from your federal income tax, but the deduction must be spread over the life of the loan. (A point is an upfront interest charge equal to 1 percent of the loan amount.)* If the refinancing is in the form of a home-equity loan for home improvements, points are fully deductible in the year they are paid.

Mortgage rates show signs of getting back to normal, suggesting that last week's extraordinary action by the Federal Reserve is having its intended effect. Normally the yield on long-term Treasury debt is a good indicator of where mortgage rates will head. But lately the relationship has broken down. Treasury yields fell while mortgage rates rose. The difference between the 10-year Treasury yield and the 30-year fixed mortgage rate was about 1.5 percentage points early this year. But in late February the gap started getting wider and eventually yawned far past 2 percentage points.

Mortgage giant Freddie Max reports the interest rate on 30-year mortgages have fallen to their lowest levels in more than 50 years. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.15 percent for the week ending today.  A 15-year fixed rate loan fell to 3.36 percent. Freddie Mac's chief economist credits the Fed's pledge to keep rates low for two years as one reason for the favorable terms. Plus, jitters over the European debt crisis also contributed to low rates.  

A state mortgage program aimed primarily at first-time buyers is lowering its interest rate and setting aside $100 million to lure people relocating as part of the military's base realignment and closure initiative. Officials want to help those buyers and aid the region's still-struggling housing market at the same time. Thousands of federal workers and contractors are moving to take jobs at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Fort Meade or one of several other installations in Maryland as part of the base changes, known as BRAC.

Blame Greece's debt crisis for contributing to the recent drop in your stock portfolio, but give it credit for something that could benefit consumers: lower mortgage rates. Last week, rates on fixed-rate mortgages fell to their lowest level this year, while rates on adjustable-rate loans dipped to a point not seen for years, according to a weekly survey by mortgage giant Freddie Mac. The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage slipped to 4.93 percent last week, down from 5 percent the week before and down to the lowest level since early December.

WASHINGTON - - After hitting an all-time low in early December, the average rate on a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage rose to 5.05 percent last week and could climb to 6 percent by the end of 2010, if not sooner, according to giant mortgage financier Freddie Mac. The results are noteworthy because rates have not topped 5 percent since the last week of October, when they reached 5.03 percent, based on the results of this closely watched survey, which...

CHICAGO -How long can they stay this low? Less than a day after the Federal Reserve said it would double its purchases of mortgage debt, fixed rates on conforming 30-year mortgages dropped as much as half a percentage point to under 5 percent, and there's thought that rates aren't headed back up soon. A check of Web sites yesterday showed rates ranging from 4.625 percent to 4.75 percent, not including points, for the most credit-worthy customers. Except for a day or so in December, rates are at the lowest levels since at least 1965, according to Freddie Mac. Mortgage rates were already at near-record lows.

WASHINGTON -The Federal Reserve said yesterday that it will deploy an additional $1.2 trillion to try to lower interest rates and stimulate the economy, an aggressive move aimed at containing the recession. The central bank will increase its purchases of mortgage-backed securities by $750 billion, on top of a previously announced $500 billion. It also will double its purchases of debt in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to $200 billion. Those steps are intended to lower mortgage rates - analysts expect the rates will fall 0.25 to 0.50 percentage points as soon as today.

A gauge of U.S. homebuilder optimism fell for the second straight month in August as rising mortgage rates threatened to erode the record pace of home sales. The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo's index of builder confidence fell to 67 this month, matching the low for the year, from 70 in July. The index has averaged 69.4 this year. Builder confidence tends to decline with increases in 30-year fixed mortgage rates. Economists are predicting that borrowing costs will rise, slowing sales from the first half's record pace and adding less to growth.

After December progress in working through the inventory of houses sitting on the market, we had a setback in January. Sales of existing homes as well as new homes were a big disappointment. Both housing sales indicators fell to their lowest levels in years (seasonally adjusted to reflect January's slow pace compared with other months). Thousands bought up houses at bargain prices, especially in California and Nevada. The median sales price nationwide for a house sold in January plunged 15 percent, to $170,000, from the level a year earlier.