Interest Rates may have hit bottom according to the Federal Reserve

The fed made it's quarterly speech yesterday. It appears they are taking the stance of no further rate cuts. The market is now on its own. If you are waiting for interest rates to go any lower, they wont. If you think Obama is going to win the election you better refi now. I don't think interest rates are going to go any lower at this point.

GetPrequalified.com

Mortgage Paradigm Shifts on Capital Hill

There is a new movement on Capital Hill regarding help for distressed homeowners. What is happening is that Republican efforts to block homeowners with mortgage assistance is coming to an end. The worry over helping people who made poor buying choices went out the back door with the $30 billion push to prevent a Bear Stearns BK. It has also been clear that for months the FHASecure program has not produced the relief for home owners.

The final legislation is not finished yet, but it appears that thee will be ten billion dollars for states to make loans to homeowners. The states will be able to use several billion to convert at risk mortgages into fixed rate loan programs with better than market rates. This can only happen if the lenders are willing to take a loss. The lender loss will be 15 percent of the mortgage balance. This may be a better deal than what the banks would get if they were to go it alone.

Additional Articles

Raise the conforming loan limit to help out the Real Estate market

Ben Bernanke lowering the federal reserve rates every few weeks wont be enough to put life back into the real estate market. The problem as from what I can see it is that the conforming loan limits in most areas are to low for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. I live in Maricopa County where the conforming loan limit is $417,000. If you live in Scottsdale your home may sit for awhile on the market due to the fact that housing prices are much higher in these areas. The problem is that once you go over the $417,000 threshold you get into jumbo mortgage rates. Rates on Jumbo Loans can be 2% or more higher than for a comparable non conforming loan. This prices most people out of the market for higher priced homes, not to mention that you will need to bring in a heftier down payment to be able to qualify. We must get these limits down to get the mid level properties moving again.

Mortgage Articles

Why Federal Reserve Rate Cuts wont help you

The Federal Reserve cut their discount rate to lenders by 75bps this week. Notice that I said to lenders and not consumers. Rates did not drop by .75% for mortgages. They went down about .25%. The only group that really benefits from this type of activity are the financial institutions. The move really allows lending institutions to make more money to try and sure up any liquidity issues.

Don't be lured by sneaky advertising trying to make you think that mortgage interest rates have dropped like a rock. The truth is that they haven't. All that I am saying is Caveat Emptor.

Additional Articles

Fed cuts their rate 75bps on March 18, 2008

The federal reserve did it again lowering their funds rate 75bps. I still think it is going to take more stimulus action than just fed rate cuts to get the credit markets running smoothly again. At this point why not just drop it to zero.

Are Fed Rate Cuts Helping the Economy?

The Federal Reserve rate cut that is expected this afternoon may help stimulate a sluggish economy. However it may do little to break open the troubled credit markets and hands down the mortgage market.

I think with the amount of work that the fed has done already, it should be clear that more measures other than the fed may be needed. It's hard to believe that the fed alone could bail out our economy and sluggish mortgage market. Senator Charles Schumer, chairman of the Economic Policy Subcommittee, told CNBC Tuesday, "Everyone knows we need to do more to stabilize housing." I would concur, I think peoples biggest fears right now are those over home prices and the real estate market. Senator Schumer also called for easing up of capital requirements for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and threw out the idea of tax credits for homebuyers.


Additional Mortgage Articles

Fed Drops the fed funds rate by an quarter of a point

The Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke announced today on a Sunday meeting that the central bank rate will be lowered a quarter of a point to 3.25% from 3.5%. The action was meant to provide additional liquidity to banks and lending institutions. The JPMorgan merger with Bear Stearns was also announced as well.

Should we just let the market handle the mortgage meltdown or should the government continue to act?

Hold on to your hats, this may not have any impact on mortgage interest rates at the consumer level. If you look at what this years fed cuts have done for mortgage interest rates, you will see that there really hasn't been any significant lowering of rates at all. Don't get lured into any fancy advertising that alot of the banks and lending institutions will be running.

Additional Mortgage Articles

Federal Reserve Myth about Interest Rates

Just because the Fed cuts the Fed Funds Rate, your interest rate will not necessarily follow. Mortgage interest rates on first mortgages have more to do with how the stock market is doing that what the Federal Reserve is doing. For instance, the Fed cut their rate by 1.25% in 2008 so far. If this had translated across the board to mortgage rates, you would be able to get a mortgage for under 5%. This is not the case however, rates are closer to 6.5% now. If you have a second mortgage, you have probably noticed that your rate has dropped. The fed rate is tied into the prime rate of interest which home equity lines or heloc mortgages are tied into.

You gotta think that someone is making money off of this. I can tell you that it is not the little guy. Do buy into bank advertising that rates are down since the Fed cut rates. The reality is they are not.

Additional Articles