Treasury Department Announcement of 4.5% Mortgages Brings Rates Down
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Based on the news that the Treasury Department may be using Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to influence the mortgage markets to push interest rates down to 4.5% in the near future, rates have dropped approximately 1% to 5.53% for a 30 year fixed rate this past week. I have been in the real estate business for over 30 years and do not recall mortgage interest rates at 4.5% or lower. (The good news!)
California leads Florida in foreclosure starts with 92,711 in the last quarter. One in ten homeowners across the country are either behind in their mortgage payments or in foreclosure. (The bad news!)
Stockton, one of the leading cities in the nation for the most foreclosures, has been seeing strong sales activity but approximately 90% of all sales are REO’s at very low prices.
