Mortgage Rates Remain Below 5%

March 11, 2010
By Alan Zibel
WASHINGTON—Mortgage rates held below the 5 percent threshold for the second straight week, a report said Thursday, weeks before a government program that has been keeping rates low is scheduled to expire.

The average rate on a 30-year fixed rate mortgage was 4.95 percent this week, down from 4.97 percent a week earlier, mortgage finance company Freddie Mac said.
Rates dropped to a record low of 4.71 percent in December and have hovered around 5 percent since, kept down by a Federal Reserve campaign to stabilize the housing market by lowering mortgage rates.

The central bank’s $1.25 trillion program to buy up mortgage securities issued by Freddie Mac and sibling companiy Fannie Mae is set to expire March 31. But the Fed has held the door open to extending the program if the economy weakens.

Some analysts argue that rates could rise once the Fed’s program ends, hurting both the recovery in housing and the overall economy. But government officials are optimistic that the Fed will be able to end its program without a major disruption.
Freddie Mac collects mortgage rates on Monday through Wednesday of each week from lenders around the country. Rates often fluctuate significantly, even within a given day, often in line with long-term Treasury bonds.

This week, the average rate on a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage was 4.32 percent, down from 4.33 percent last week, according to Freddie Mac.

Rates on five-year, adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 4.05 percent, down from 4.11 percent a week earlier. Rates on one-year, adjustable-rate mortgages fell to 4.22 percent from 4.27 percent.

The rates do not include add-on fees known as points. One point is equal to 1 percent of the total loan amount.

The nationwide fee for loans in Freddie Mac’s survey averaged 0.7 of a point for 30-year and 15-year loans and 0.6 of a point for five-year and one-year loans.

A service of YellowBrix, Inc. Posted on HouseLogic.com (a website by the National Assoc. of Realtors)

February Sales Leader

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Asheville Citizen-Times Reports that County Housing Market is Upbeat

ASHEVILLE, Feb. 28, 2010 Jenny Street put her two-bedroom, one-bath home in West Asheville on the market with the usual worry — that it would linger there for months.
Ten days later, she had it under contract for about $120,000, a testament to a housing market in Buncombe County that is again showing signs of life.
“That's pretty affordable for people who are starting out versus some of the really fancy homes out there,” she said. “You can ask for more, but it's going to be on the market a lot longer.”
Sales of less-expensive homes like Street's, put under contract last week, have been the driving force behind a turnaround that started in the fall, a Citizen-Times analysis of Buncombe County government tax data indicates. More