30-Year Loan Rates Dip to 4.98 Percent

Rates on 30-year mortgages plunged this week to the lowest level since January, and may fall further after the Federal Reserve launched a new effort to prop up the flailing housing market.

Mortgage finance giant Freddie Mac said Thursday that average rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages dropped to 4.98 percent this week, down from 5.03 percent last week. It was the lowest since the week of Jan. 15, when it was at 4.96 percent, the lowest point in the history of Freddie Mac's survey, which goes back to 1971.

Rates may reach 4.5 percent as the Fed's purchases progress, said Mike Larson, real estate analyst at Weiss Research in Jupiter, Fla.

The rate quotes included in Freddie Mac's survey were taken before the Fed said Wednesday that it will pump $1.2 trillion into the economy in an effort to lower rates on mortgages and other types of loans. That could drive mortgage rates down even further, perhaps past record lows. However, some mortgage brokers were disappointed Thursday, saying lenders had not pushed down rates as dramatically as had been hoped. Credit remains tight, and lenders that are not connected to banks and must rely on short-term funding are having trouble raising cash.

"The problem is: We're still not seeing the injection of capital from the private sector," said Douglas Braden, a broker with Northern Colorado Mortgage.

Plus many lenders, after laying off workers in droves, don't have the capacity to keep up with a refinancing boom.

"They're already swimming in applications," said Greg McBride, senior financial analyst with Bankrate.com. "You could keep reducing mortgage rates, but if the lender's already got a stack of files on his desk, he's not going to answer the phone."

Interest rates have drifted lower since November, when the Federal Reserve pledged to buy up mortgage-backed securities in an effort to bolster the long-suffering housing market. The Fed expanded that effort Wednesday, announcing plans to buy up to $300 billion of long-term government bonds and an additional $750 billion in mortgage-backed securities guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The average rate on a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage dropped to 4.61 percent, down from 4.64 percent last week, Freddie Mac said.

Rates on five-year, adjustable-rate mortgages fell to 4.98 percent, compared with 4.99 percent. Rates on one-year, adjustable-rate mortgages rose to 4.91 percent, from 4.8 percent. The rates do not include add-on fees known as points. The nationwide fee for fixed and adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 0.7 point last week.