WASHINGTON — Turmoil in the stock market and the European debt crisis are making life easier for American home buyers and families looking to refinance: Mortgage rates are inching closer to a record low.
The window of opportunity may close soon. Home loan rates will rise if investors grow more confident and shift money out of the safety of government bonds, which influence mortgage rates.
For now, though, rates are tantalizingly low. The average 30-year, fixed-rate loan sank to 4.78 percent this week, the lowest this year and barely above the record of 4.71 percent set in December. And 15-year loans are at their lowest rates in two decades.
Applications to refinance surged this week to the highest level in seven months, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.
Anxiety over the European crisis has caused global investors to snap up Treasury bonds, which they view as much safer than other investments. Treasury yields have fallen as a result, taking mortgage rates down, too.
When the crisis eases, and especially if the US economic recovery stays on track, expect investors to move out of bonds and back into stocks. That would make mortgages more expensive.
Associated Press May 28, 2010
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