Mortgage Rates Below 5%

So who's taking advantage? New home buyers? Not so much as Borat would say. It is refinances that are surging. New home sales are down. Overall mortgage purchases are up however.

You can still get an $8,000 tax credit if you buy a home.

The Los Angeles Times says:

The increase was from refinancings, not home buying, the trade group says in its survey. Applications for home loans increased by 8.2% overall from the previous week, but purchase applications fell 1.8% while refi applications surged 14.5%.

The MBA says the contract rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages fell to 4.97% from 5.04% during the week that ended Friday.

Upfront points to lenders, including the origination fee, decreased to 1.01% from 1.25% of the loan amount. The survey assumed that borrowers had good credit and that the loans were for 80% or less of the home's appraised value.