Arizona Mortgage Rates For November 28, 2008
Mortgage Related News This Week
On Tuesday of this week, the Fed announced that they were going to commit $800 billion in an attempt to “unfreeze the credit markets”. This $800 billion is in addition to the $700 billion “bailout” package that the Treasury is administering.
According to the announcement, the Fed will purchase up to $100 billion of direct debt from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, $500 billion of mortgage-backed securities issued by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae and a $200 billion program to support consumer and small-business loans.
I don’t care who you are, that is a lot of zeros being tossed around!
Immediately following the announcement, mortgage rates improved by about .5% (and have since lost some of those improvements) and we spent lots of time answering people’s questions about whether or not it makes sense to refinance. The general opinion among mortgage professionals is that rates *should* trend downward for a period of time as a result of this move.
It became clear after talking with people that with the rising popularity of FHA loans, many people are not aware of the FHA streamline program where you can take advantage of lower rates without having to completely re-qualify for a new loan and possibly not need an appraisal — so even if you owe more than your house is worth, you can possibly still participate in the streamline program and lower your interest rate.
In general, if you currently have an FHA loan with a rate that is higher than 6%, it probably makes sense to look into the FHA streamline program.
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