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What’s happening with mortgage rates? Jeff Lazerson, of Mortgage Grader in Laguna Niguel, gives us his weekly take … NEWS SUMMARY: From Freddie Mac’s weekly survey we see fixed and adjustable rates hitting all-time record lows. The average rate for a 30-year fixed rate fell to 4.12 percent at a cost of .7 point. Last week rates averaged 4.22 percent. Fifteen year fixed rates averaged 3.33 percent and .6 point, falling from 3.39 percent a week ago. The 5-year ARM remained unchanged at the lowest record level touched one week ago, averaging 2.96 percent and .6 point to buy that rate.

WHAT I SEE: From rate sheets hitting my desk that are not part of Freddie Mac’s survey: The 5-year interest only ARM is 2.875 percent and .9 point. The 10-year ARM is 3.5 percent and .8 point. FHA 30-year fixed is 3.75 percent and zero point.

WHAT I THINK: Tonight, President Obama needs to announce a simple no-appraisal refinance program for on-time paying borrowers that lack equity. This is

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Low interest mortgage rates are a powerful incentive for borrowers to buy a home or refinance an existing mortgage rates. But when borrowers shop for a loan, the lowest mortgage rates shouldnt be the sole factor in their decision.

What really matters is the right combination of  low mortgage rates, affordable fees and whats known in the industry as points.  Borrowers need to look at not just at  the mortgage interest rate but the overall cost of acquiring the loan. Sometimes the cost don’t outweigh the benefits of lower mortgage rates.

Par Mortgage Rates or Points

A point is an upfront fee that, by convention, is equal to 1% of the loan amount. For

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What’s happening with mortgage rates? Jeff Lazerson, of Mortgage Grader in Laguna Niguel, gives us his weekly take …

NEWS SUMMARY: From Freddie Mac’s weekly survey we see fixed rates back at record lows. The average rate for a 30-year fixed rate loans averaged a record-low 4.01 percent (at cost of 0.7 points) down from 4.09 percent a week ago; 15-year fixed rates averaged a record-low 3.28 percent at 0.7 points, falling .01 percentage point from a week ago. The 5-year ARM averaged was firm at 3.02 percent with 0.6 points.

WHAT I SEE: From rate sheets hitting my desk that are not part of Freddie Mac’s survey: A 30-year fixed is available at 3.875 percent and a 15-year fixed can be had at 3.125 percent. HARP lo

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Mortgage rates moved sideways last week as the debt ceiling negotiations and European situation were the main market focus. This week may mark the end of the debt ceiling crisis. Up until now there has been no chance of a compromise since both sides positions have been set in stone. The Republicans, pushed on by the newer Tea Party backed freshmen congressman, want deep spending cuts and no new taxes of any type. President Obama and the Democrats insist that taxes have to be part of the mix, and have drawn the line on deep entitlement cuts. Coming up with a real plan to make meaningful cuts and get both sides on board has become an exercise in magical thinking. The two party’s are looking at this from mutually exclusive view points. T

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The news reported last week confirmed that that the economy is slowing and mortgage rates are continuing to trend down. Factory orders fell 1.2% in April, and the ISM manufacturing index, a sign of strength in the manufacturing sector, came in at 53.5 compared to 60.4 the month before, much lower than expected. But the capper was the release of the monthly unemployment report on Friday. New claims for unemployment benefits had spiked higher earlier in the week, so the expectation was that this would be a soft report. The report came in showing 54,000 new jobs created over the last month, and the unemployment rate rising from 9.0% to 9.1%. This is a big drop off, the previous months, and being that the economy needs to add about 125,000 jobs each month just to stay even, a very distressing sign.

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