How Long Will Low Mortgage Rates Last?

For nine consecutive weeks, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage has been hovering at or below record lows of 4 percent, pushing housing affordability for home buyers even higher.

But will these low rates stick around much longer?

The Federal Reserve has vowed to keep rates low through 2013 so rates likely will hang around for a few more months, at least, but whether mortgage rates will stay at the current record-lows, many experts say it’s unlikely. Read More

Source: “Low Mortgage Rates Likely to Continue Through 2012, Experts Say,” Los Angeles Times (Jan. 3, 2012)

Mortgage Rates Reach New Record Lows

Just in time for the holidays:
Mortgage rates reached new all-time lows this week, pushing home buyer affordability even higher, Freddie Mac reports in its weekly mortgage market survey.

"Rates on 30-year fixed mortgages have been at or below 4 percent for the last eight weeks and now are almost 0.9 percentage points below where they were at the beginning of the year, which means that today's home buyers are paying over $1,200 less per year on a $200,000 loan,” Frank Nothaft, chief economist at Freddie Mac, said in a statement. “This greater affordability helped push existing home sales higher for the second consecutive month in November to an annualized pace of 4.42 million, the most since January.”

Here’s a closer look at mortgage rates for the week ending Dec. 22:

Read more:

Resource: Daily Real Estate News | Friday, December 23, 2011 

Mortgage Rates Drop Sharply This Week

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, the most popular choice among home buyers, dropped to its second lowest reading on record this week, Freddie Mac reports in its weekly mortgage market survey. 

"Market concerns over the European debt market drew investors to U.S. Treasury securities, lowering bond yields and mortgage rates,” says Frank Nothaft, chief economist at Freddie Mac. Read more...

Resource: Daily Real Estate News | Friday, November 04, 2011   

The American Cities Where Mortgages Are Staying Afloat

President Obama recently announced he would extend the nation’s mortgage refinancing program in an effort to provide relief to homeowners whose mortgages are worth more than the value of their homes. With 11 million underwater households no one can claim the housing crisis over. However, some regions have survived the crisis better than others. In those areas, home values are either stable or rising, and unemployment is below the national average.Read more: 
Resource: www.247wallst.com

Lancaster, PA - Latest Figures for New Home Sales Suggest Market Fall is Subsiding

In the Lancaster, PA market in August, sales of new homes declined year-over-year, but the drop in percentage terms was an improvement from July 2011, suggesting that the market may be stabilizing. New home sales saw a drop of 27.3% from the year earlier to 32. This came on the heels of a 51.1% decline year-over-year in July.In the 12 months ending August 2011, there were 441 new home sales, down from an annualized 453 in July.
New home sales made up 6.5% of overall housing sales. This is down from from a year earlier when new home sales represented 10.4% of total sales. For new and existing homes, sales grew year-over-year in August after also increasing in July year-over-year. Learn more....

Resource: www.BuilderOnline.com
Posted on: Nov 08, 2011 09:22:20 AM