Home >> News >> Data >> Fed’s Stimulus Decision Prompts Record-Low Mortgage Rates
Print This Post Print This Post
Fed

Fed’s Stimulus Decision Prompts Record-Low Mortgage Rates

Mortgage rates slid to new lows this week as investors dumped their cash into safe-haven Treasury debt, prompted by the Fed's decision to keep interest rates low for an unfixed time.

[IMAGE]

""Zillow"":http://www.zillow.com/ found the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage slipping past 3.2 percent for the first time to arrive at 3.18 percent, down from 3.35 percent on Wednesday last week. The real estate website said this marks the lowest rate for the 30-year home loan since 2008, when it launched its weekly survey.

[COLUMN_BREAK]

Across the rest of the country, rates for the 30-year mortgage fell accordingly, plunging by 21 basis points in California, 16 basis points in New Jersey, and 15 basis points in New York, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania, respectively.

Interest rates for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages dropped to 2.59 percent, while those for 5-year and 1-year adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 2.43 percent.

""Mortgage rates saw a significant drop this week, reaching an all-time low, as the market continued to digest the significant and sustained impact of the Federal Reserve's decision to offer a new round of stimulus which unlike prior stimulus plans, does not carry a preset expiration date,"" Erin Lantz, director of Zillow Mortgage Marketplace, said in a statement.

""The Federal Reserve's commitment to keep the federal funds rate close to zero into the middle of 2015 also affected rates,"" she added, saying that the real estate website expects ""rates to rise slightly as lender capacity begins to fill up from a new influx of borrowers interested in refinancing at these historically low rates.""

*Do you think the Fed's decision was a wise one?* Send us your thoughts by emailing us at [email protected] for a chance for appear in our monthly magazine.

About Author: Ryan Schuette

Ryan Schuette is a journalist, cartoonist, and social entrepreneur with several years of experience in real-estate news, international reporting, and business management. He currently lives in the Washington, D.C., area, where he freelances for DS News and MReport.
x

Check Also

Survey: Homeownership Remains Elusive for Baby Boomer Renters

A recent look into housing affordability by NeighborWorks America has found that three in five long-term baby boomer renters feel homeownership remains unattainable.