Charleston mortgage rates at lows for the year, May 21, 2010
There is good news for Charleston mortgage rates due in large part to all the bad news in the stock market and the sovereign debt problems in Europe causing the Euro to tank. The dollar is stronger and US Treasuries are considered a safe haven and that causes lower interest rates.
While 10 year US Treasuries are considered a proxy for and have a correlation to mortgage rates, it's of course up to buyers of the mortgage backed securities market that really determines the rates. And since the Fed ended purchases of mortgage backed securities at the end of March and everyone feared mortgage rates would skyrocket, that hasn't happened yet. And in fact, the free market has driven mortgage rates down which is a good thing for anyone considering buying a home in Charleston today.
FHA and conventional 30 year mortgage rates are being quoted at 4.75 percent by several of my preferred lenders. With recent price declines in Charleston home prices, affordability has never been better in years. And it's still a buyers market with lots of good choices.
Here is an excellent recap of the financial news from Business Week and a press release from Freddie Mac on today's mortgage rates.