Housing Market Continues to Drag, Yet Interest Rates Keep Falling

Wednesday 11/21/07,  Freddie Mac reported that the average mortgage interest rates for 30 and 15 year fixed-rate loans were down from last Thursday's averages. Nationally the average mortgage interest rate for 30 year fixed-rate mortgages was 6.20% (**% in the southeast), down from 6.24% a week ago. The average interest rate for 15 year fixed-rate mortgages was 5.83%, down from 5.88% last week.

The consumer price index and producer price index remained stable and this indicated that inflation was not a major problem at this time. This helped the 30 year fixed-rate interest to drop to levels that we have not seen since May. The 15 year rates are as low as they were early last year.

The economy is still being held back by the housing slump. Single-family housing starts fell 6.4% in October. That slow of a pace has not been seen since 1991! What is a bit unusual is that usually when interest rates drop, prices rise. And when prices drop, interest rates go up. We now have a situation where prices have dropped significantly, and yet interest rates are also at historically low levels. At some point either the interest rates or the home prices will start going up. This may be the time for buyers who have been deferring making a move to finally give serious thought to purchasing a home in the near future.

Do keep in mind that we live in a very large and complex country. What happens in California is not necessarily what is happening in Florida. And what happens in Florida may be a far cry from what occurs in Michigan. Real estate is still very much a local issue.

If you want to learn more about Freddie Mac or see the details of their survey, go to: www.freddiemac.com  and click on the link for "Current Weekly Survey". They break down the survey by specific regions in the United States so you can see how your state compares to other parts of the country. They also explain the mission of Freddie Mac and offer a lot of useful information for consumers.

If you would like to speak with a lender you can find some at my website: www.jelwell.century21bnr.com . You can also speak with your own bank, credit union, or mortgage broker to see what your particular interest rate would be, should you decide to finance a home purchase.