5.25% — or 5.482% APR

This is our 30 year fixed rate right now.  Rates have gotten ridiculously low.  The lowest we’ve seen in 3+ years, in fact.  So what happened to make rates drop so suddenly, you ask?  The government stepped in last week and said they would buy upwards of 500 billion dollars in mortgage-backed secu­rities and would invest 100 billion in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.  Essentially, they are putting the full faith and credit of the United States of America behind that asset class, making it a significantly safer bet for investors to invest in.

And invest they did.  By the truckload.

The result for mortgage consumers is lowered rates.  Most analysts don’t see this set of circumstances perpetuating itself for very long.  The depressed economy, accelerating job losses, violent and consis­tent upheavals in the stock markets and an all-pervading sense of fear has made these rates possible.

It is a quadruple witching hour for real estate: seasonal lows in home prices, attractive mortgage rates, the recession just became official (news which can shove asset prices lower), and the housing bubble has already deflated.  It is rare that this magnitude of opportunity can coincide in one moment.  Anyone who is looking to buy a primary residence should call me to discuss their options.  Anyone looking to invest in real estate should call me to discuss an entrance strategy for the next 6-12 months.  Anyone with an adjustable loan or a fixed interest rate of 6% or above should call me to look at refinancing.  For those of you who are still on the fence about homeownership, now would be a good time to do some soul-searching on how much sweeter you really think the deal can get. 

www.GregWhiteside.com