The Federal Reserve announced last week that it would purchase up to $100 billion in direct debt of Fannie, Freddie, and the Federal Home Loan Banks, along with up to $500 billion of mortgage-backed securities backed by Fannie, Freddie and Ginnie Mae, the government-sponsored enterprises at the center of the U.S. housing crisis. Mortgage rates started falling within hours of the Fed announcement.
The rates continue to drop, and mortgage applications filed last week rose by a seasonally adjusted 112.1% as compared to the previous week, as borrowers rushed to lock in lower rates… this according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s weekly survey which was released on Wednesday. Likewise, applications to refinance existing loans rose by 203.3% last week, compared with the week before. While countless other government attempts to rescue the U.S. financial sector have failed to trickle down to ordinary Americans who need loans, the Fed’s move on Tuesday pushed rates on home loans from 6 percent to below 5.5 percent. The drop also means more Americans with acceptable credit ratings will qualify for loans that were out of reach just days ago.
Thirty and 15 year fixed rate mortgages are at the lowest we’ve seen this year, and quite possibly at their lowest rates in 5 or 6 years. Investors continue to leave equity markets due to falling stock and oil prices. They’re moving money to safe havens provided by Treasury debt and meanwhile, bond prices are rising, and interest rates just keep coming down. Meanwhile, there’s still a large gap between yields on Treasuries and mortgage backed securities, leaving plenty of room for mortgage rates to drop even further. Industry experts expect long-term mortgage rates to go even lower in the days and weeks ahead, and as the stimulus programs the Fed is now designing are put into place, mortgage rates could drop to their lowest levels in 50 years! This is good news for the resort marketplace. The combination of low rates with limited inventory should produce higher demand. This will help maintain values while removing what little excess inventory there is from this market.
“The parameters for credit are still tight but any time a person can get a lower rate, things get a bit easier,” says Val McComb of First Resort Lending in Summit County. “A lower mortgage rate reduces the monthly payment; now there will be more people who can qualify based on a lower debt-to-income ratio,” she says.
If you have a favorable credit score, it is likely that you will find tremendous buying opportunities in the beginning to middle of 2009. Investors will be looking for places to put their money, and lieu of the stock market, the Summit County real estate market is an extremely viable option.
Contact JLeopold@SliferSummit.com for resources on the latest, lowest mortgage rates, or to find out if you would benefit from a refinanced or first mortgage in today’s market.
