From the New York December issue: When the Federal Reserve recently rolled out its plan to pump $600 billion into the credit markets, many homeowners and buyers might have figured that since mortgage interest rates are now likely to fall again, why not postpone the loan application they were contemplating? Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke offered implicit support for that scenario when, in a Washington Post op-ed on Nov. 4, he wrote that as a by-product of the $600 billion infusion, “lower mortgage rates will make housing more affordable and allow more homeowners to refinance.” But wait a minute: Haven’t 30-year fixed mortgage rates been hovering around 4.25 percent, the lowest level on record since April 1951? Aren’t 15-year mortgages just above 3.6 percent? How much lower could rates possibly go? [more]
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