(Wall Street Journal) — Rising government borrowing costs have driven mortgage rates to their highest level in six months, challenging the still-shaky housing market and the Federal Reserve’s efforts to boost the U.S. economy. The rate for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.61% this week, according to the weekly survey from government-backed mortgage firm Freddie […]
(Time) — Banks used to be good not just as holding pens for your money, but as places your money could grow slowly but surely. But considering the evil combo of rising fees and pathetic interest rates, the net result is a slow but sure loss of value even when there’s not much inflation. The […]
(LA Times) — 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 because mortgage interest rates are now likely to fall again, why not postpone the loan application they were contemplating? Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke offered implicit support for that […]
(U.S. News and World Report) — Interest rates have never been lower. It seems that just about every week mortgage rates set a new low. And this week the Fed is expected to undertake a second round of quantitative easing, QE2 for short, by buying up more government debt. As a result, incredibly lowinterest rates may go even […]
(AJC) — The interest rates depositors earn from banks are at record lows, and Georgia banks’ rates are lower than most, according to a national study. The national average interest rate for all deposits — checking or savings accounts, money markets or CDs — dropped in July to 0.99 percent, according to Market Rates Insight. […]
(New York Times) — Did the proliferation of low-down-payment, low-documentation loans cause the housing bubble? Last week, I discussed one core problem with answering that question — we don’t really know what happened to approval rates or loan-to-value levels over time. But let’s assume that we did know, and that loan-to-value ratios increased by 5 […]
(FORTUNE) — Here’s a shocker: It could be years before U.S. finances are jolted by an interest rate shock. Some forecasters are banking on rising interest rates. The Federal Reserve has kept its key short-term rate near zero since December 2008, but many economists believe a rate hike could take place as soon as later […]