30-Year Fixed Mortgage Rates Down Again
Thursday, 4 December 2008, Mortgage rates down again, 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 5.53% in the week finished Dec. 4, down markedly from 5.97% in the previous week, according to a survey Freddie Mac. Rates are now 0.43 percentage point less than they were during the same period last year.
Rates for adjustable rate mortgages also declined. The average rate for one-year adjustable rate mortgages fell 0.16 percentage point to 5.02% in the week finished Dec. 4.
Overall, the four varieties of mortgage rates Freddie Mac tracks are trending lower. Moderating interest rates could have factored in to the 38% spike in new mortgage activity, and 203% jump in refinancing activity reported by the Mortgage Bankers Association Wednesday.
In Auto, The Huge Three Auto makers are appealing to Congress. They want to get $34 billion in government loans. GM and Chrysler will tell the Congress why they deserve to get the loans and what will they do with that money. Ford, the only of the three that said it doesn’t need a loan from the government but rather wants $9 billion as a safeguard against worsening market conditions.
In Europe, The Bank of England and European Central Bank (ECB) have slashed interest rates to 2 and 2.5 percent respectively in an ongoing bid to soften the impact of recession.
Meanwhile French President Nicolas Sarkozy added more excellent news Thursday, saying he was going to pump $33 billion into its economy.
The UK Bank said it had to cut its interest rate from 3 to 2 percent — the lowest level since 1951 — because business surveys had weakened further, suggesting the downturn was gathering pace.
Consumer spending and business investment had also stalled, while residential investment continued to fall.
The Bank said economic activity across the world was down.
The Bank’s announcement, which followed last month’s 1.5 percentage point cut, came as new figures showed UK house prices dropped at their fastest monthly rate for 16 years in November and new car sales were down 37 percent.
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