More Videos
- US Auto Fears Drag on Asian Stocks
- Anti-China Tensions on the Rise in Australia
- UBS Shares Fall as More Writedowns, Job Cuts Seen
- Spain Bails Out First Bank of Financial Crisis
- Japan Output Slides But Signs of Rebound Emerge
- It's 'Conceivable' for UK to Ask for IMF Aid: Soros
- G20 Targets Return to Growth Next Year
- Geithner Won't Say if More Bailout Cash Needed
- Retailers Fear an Un-Merry Christmas
- Yoshikami: The US Economy, Green Shoots, and Disaster
- Spartans Win Will Boost Ticket Sales
- Congress Is Late to Proletariat Party
- Lightning Round: Whole Foods, DR Horton, Marathon Oil and More
- Lightning Round OT: Massey Energy, Alliant Tech and More
- Clorox: A Counter-Trend Play
- Apple’s BFF: Silicon Laboratories
- Contrarian Cramer Blasphemes Big Money Bullies
- Your First Move For Monday March 30th
Text Size 
U.S. mortgage rates fell in the latest week, in a boost to government efforts to bring them down to levels that will spur demand and help the hard-hit housing market begin to recover.
Interest rates on U.S. 30-year fixed-rate mortgages fell to 5.03 percent for the week ending March 12 from the previous week's 5.15 percent, according to a survey released Thursday by home funding company Freddie Mac.
Eight weeks earlier, mortgage rates were 4.96 percent, the lowest since Freddie Mac started the Primary Mortgage Market Survey in 1971.
"Mortgage rates had room to ease this week following news of a weaker jobs market, which may slow consumer spending and keep inflation at bay," Freddie Mac Vice President and Chief
Economist Frank Nothaft said in a statement.
The battered U.S. housing market, which is in the midst of its worst downturn since the Great Depression, is both the
source and a major casualty of the credit crisis. A recovery for the market could portend a turnaround for the U.S. economy, the world's largest.
 |
The recent fall in mortgage rates can be tied to yields on U.S. Treasury bonds, to which mortgage rates have a link.
Thirty-year mortgage rates had mostly been on a downward trend since the Federal Reserve unveiled a plan in late November to buy as much as $500 billion of mortgage securities backed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae.
The program also entails buying up to $100 billion of debt issued by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Home Loan Banks.
Low mortgage rates should spur demand for home refinancing loans. Refinancing to lower monthly payments provides a bit of relief to strapped consumers amid rising unemployment and a shrinking economy.
However, the low rates have made little to no impact on demand for loans to purchase homes, sparking calls to bring rates down to much lower levels. _____________________________________
Calculators and Advice from Bankrate.com:
_____________________________________
Print
Email
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes