Rates have dropped—and homes are a lot more affordable now.

Mortgage rates are at a two-year low, and Century 21 Mortgage is offering you the opportunity to obtain reliable financing at very affordable rates. Contact us today to find out how we can help you get into their dream home while rates are low.

If you finance your home while rates are low, you can save hundreds of dollars a year (or more), according to Freddie Mac’s January 10, 2008 Primary Mortgage Market Survey:

The average principal and interest payment on a $250,000 loan has dropped by $131.83 per month since August 3, 2007.1

And, there’s more good news:

• The 30-year fixed rate mortgage averaged 5.87% with 0.4 points2
• The 15-year fixed rate mortgage averaged 5.43% with 0.5 points2
• The 5/1 ARM averaged 5.63% with 0.5 points2
• The 1-year ARM averaged 5.37% with 0.6 points2

Go with a lender you can trust.  
With over 150 loan products, Century 21 Mortgage will find the mortgage that meets your financial needs.

1. Calculations based on the Freddie Mac average 30-year fixed rate mortgage on August 2, 2007 (6.68% with 0.3 points) versus the Freddie Mac average 30-year fixed mortgage on January 10, 2008 (5.87% with 0.4 points).
2. “January 10, 2008 Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS),” Freddie Mac, McLean, Virginia.

After a jump of almost half a percent in early June, for the last month and a half interest rates on fixed rate mortgages have remained fairly steady. 

Last week, the Standard & Poor stock average fell 5%.  Often the stock market slides in advance of slower economic growth.

The housing sector of the economy is down, homebuilders are hurting -- and so are financial companies, including mortgage companies, credit card services, consumer finance companies, and even those that help finance mergers and acquisitions.

Durable goods orders fell 0.5%.  Durable goods are purchases of items expected to last more than a year.  Refrigerators, cars, carpets, airplanes, etc.

Even so, economists are optimistic.  They believe that economic growth in the second quarter will exceed 3%.  Manufacturing is up in the United States, for example. 

But trucking is down.

A trade war could be developing, too.  Congress is very unhappy with China because they appear to purposely devalue their currency, making their manufactured goods cheaper to import than it costs to build things in the U.S.  So the Senate passed a bill that could "punish" China.  The result?  It might cost more to buy things.

That could potentially mean inflation, though that too appears to be under control for now.

During times of inflation, interest rates go up.

During times of strong economic growth, there is more danger of inflation. 

So are economists right?  Or is the stock market right?

You can't always trust the stock market because of the occasional rise of "irrational exuberance" and "cheerless gloom." But you cannot always trust economists, either -- because they focus on numbers and data, ignoring the effects of psychology on the markets -- which become exaggerated during upward and downward trends.

Right now the bond market is saying, things aren't great, but they're not so bad, either.  We just want "safe" investments -- not risky investments.

That's what happens when the future is uncertain.

Interest rates for A-paper mortgages will probably remain stable or slightly increase in the near future.  For those with sub-prime credit or an inability to adequately document income, things will be tight and loans may be difficult to obtain without paying drastically higher interest rates or making larger down payments.

As always, no predictions can be guaranteed.

McLean, VA – Freddie Mac (NYSE:FRE) today released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®) in which the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 6.63 percent with an average 0.4 point for the week ending July 3, 2007, down from last week when it averaged 6.67 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 6.79 percent.

The 15-year FRM this week averaged 6.30 percent with an average 0.4 point, down from last week when it averaged 6.34 percent. A year ago, the 15-year FRM averaged 6.44 percent.

Five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) averaged 6.29 percent this week, with an average 0.4 point, down from last week when it averaged 6.30 percent. A year ago, the 5-year ARM averaged 6.39 percent.

One-year Treasury-indexed ARMs averaged 5.71 percent this week with an average 0.4 point, up from last week when it averaged 5.65 percent. At this time last year, the 1-year ARM averaged 5.83 percent.

(Average commitment rates should be reported along with average fees and points to reflect the total cost of obtaining the mortgage.)

"Long-term mortgage rates continued to move lower for a third consecutive week, in part reflecting a moderation in core inflation," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist. "In the statement accompanying their decision to leave the target federal funds rate unchanged, the Fed noted that core inflation had declined recently, though a 'sustained' moderation is still to be seen, and signaled that inflation risk continues to figure prominently in their policy decisions.

"Helping to ease some inflation concerns, May's personal consumption expenditures report found that the core price measure had increased 1.9 percent for the year ending in May, within the 1 percent to 2 percent range with which the Fed is comfortable, and the lowest year-over-year rise in more than 3 years."

Freddie Mac is a stockholder-owned company established by Congress in 1970 to support homeownership and rental housing. Freddie Mac fulfills its mission by purchasing residential mortgages and mortgage-related securities, which it finances primarily by issuing mortgage-related securities and debt instruments in the capital markets. Over the years, Freddie Mac has made home possible for one in six homebuyers and more than four million renters in America.

We've been keeping our eyes on the Mortgage lenders for all of you.  There has been plenty of talk regarding changes coming to the industry.   Now we need to see those changes being practices.  At this time we are optimistic and are keeping our fingers crossed that we will see the changes soon.  We currently have been seeing some closings being pushed 2 or 3 weeks out from the original close of escrow date.  Tough times for owners that really need to sell.  Honestly a couple of our closing have had this same problem.

My doctor told me about this website and I have been reading it diligently for the past few weeks.  Check it out at

http://ml-implode.com/#imploded