Posted on 12/09/2010 11:33:36 AM PST by Qbert
NEW YORK (AP) -- Rates on fixed mortgages rose for the fourth straight week this week. The surge could slow refinancings and further hamper the housing market.
Freddie Mac said Thursday that the average rates on 15- and 30-year fixed loans increased sharply from last week. Mortgage rates tend to track the yields on 10-year Treasury bonds. Those yields have been rising as investors anticipate Congress will extend the Bush-era tax cuts for two years and long-term unemployment benefits for 13 months.
The 30-year rate rose to 4.61 percent from 4.46 percent last week. That is well above the 4.17 percent rate hit a month ago -- the lowest level on records dating back to 1971.
The average rate on a 15-year fixed loan, a popular refinance option, rose to 3.96 percent. Rates hit 3.57 percent last month -- the lowest level since 1991.
Rates are rising after plummeting for seven months. Investors are selling Treasury bonds in anticipation of the tax deal President Barack Obama and Republicans forged that could boost the economy next year if passed. A stronger economy would make the stock market a more attractive place to invest money. That's a big reason why many investors are selling their safer Treasurys bonds.
(Excerpt) Read more at finance.yahoo.com ...
The economic idiocy is astounding
Maybe the morons at the Ass. Press believe extending the unemployment benefits to three years will aid the housing market.
~sheesh~
The vast majority of those who can qualify to refinance have already refinanced. That means credit wise or will their house appraise.
The other side of rates going up is that house prices will go down.
“The economic idiocy is astounding”
—It’s truly bizarre: on the one hand, the AP claims the tax deal will “strengthen the economy” going forward, and on the other, they claim that this will somehow hurt the housing market. And if everybody is selling Treasuries to buy stocks...how come there’s no massive rally in the stock market?
These people are morons.
One thing that cracks me up: When people buy a home, they don’t buy a price. They buy a monthly payment. This means that if interest rates rise, prices will fall, to keep the monthly payment the same.
Rates started going up when Bernake came out with QEII.
A mere 25 years ago a 4.1% mortgage rate would have been eye popping indeed.
Back then they were 8-9%.
And somehow the world soldiered on.
Not uncoincidentally, home prices were much lower then in terms of the average income.
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