Mortgage Informer

Current mortgage rates are finally at about the same level as a year ago. All year we’ve been able to say, no matter where mortgage rates have been, that rates are well below levels of a year ago. Finally, we’ll have to stop saying this as 1 year ago 30 year fixed mortgage rates averaged 5.12%. Today’s mortgage rates average 4.99%, according to Freddie Mac. Reality is 30 year fixed mortgage are available much lower than that. Par rates are the lowest available mortgage rates that do not require additional points and fees known as a buy down to be paid. 30 year fixed mortgage rates at par are as low as 4.75% today, their lowest level in weeks but still up from all time record lows of a few months ago.

Bank of Ireland is introducing a new one-year fixed mortgage rate of 3.30% (4.80% APR) specifically for first time buyers.

Bank of Ireland also said it is decreasing rates for two, three and five-year fixed mortgage rates. The rates are falling between 0.66% and 0.8%.

All new rate changes come into effect on December 5.

ICS Building Society, part of the Bank of Ireland group, also announced today that it is cutting its fixed mortgage rates.

The Bank of Ireland announcement comes just before tomorrow’s central bank decisions, when the European Central Bank and the Bank of England are both widely expected to slash interest rates.

Telephones are ringing — and ringing — at mortgage brokers’ offices around the country after this week’s sharp drop in mortgage rates.

Average rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages fell to 5.97%, down from 6.33% the week before, according to Bankrate.com. Some brokers report rates as low as 5.25%.

Borrowers with a $200,000 loan, for example, would save about $63 a month if their interest rate dropped to 5.5% from 6%.

Credit the Federal Reserve’s announcement this week that it will buy $500 billion in mortgage-backed securities held by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, helping the two mortgage-finance giants increase the pool of money available to banks and other lenders to make new mortgages.

The Treasury Department is considering a plan to boost the depressed housing market by easing mortgage rates on new home loans.

The plan, which is in the development stages, would bring loan rates down as low as 4.5%, a full percentage point lower than the prevailing rates for 30-year fixed mortgages.

The plan, which was first reported by the Wall Street Journal, was confirmed by CNBC.

Under the plan, the Treasury would buy securities underpinning loans guaranteed by Fannie and Freddie which are temporarily under the control of the government, as well as those guaranteed by the Federal Housing Administration.

Mortgage rates in Pennsylvania declined during the past week, echoing a national trend sparked by the federal government’s decision to buy mortgage-backed securities.

Zillow Inc. reported the decline Tuesday. The Seattle-based real estate website in April launched the Zillow Mortgage Marketplace feature, which allows borrowers to anonymously request mortgage quotes.

The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage for Pennsylvania fell to 5.51 percent for the week ended Nov. 30 from 5.88 percent the previous week.

Nationally, according to Zillow, rates for a 30-year fixed rate mortgage dipped to 5.53 percent from 5.92 percent. Mortgage rates posted the biggest decline in New York, dropping to 5.48 percent from 5.96 percent.

The lowest mortgage rates in three years are luring first-time buyers and cost-cutting refinancers, but falling home prices and mounting unemployment will keep U.S. housing in its deepest slump since the Great Depression.

Applications to buy and refinance homes hurtled higher last week as the lowest rates since the summer of 2005 unleashed pent-up demand. But the rush of activity does not portend a sustained boon to housing and the economy, analysts said.

COMMONWEALTH Bank of Australia (CBA) has become the first major bank to cut its variable home loan interest rates, after the central bank eased official rates.

CBA has lowered its variable home loan interest rates by 58 basis points.

The move comes after the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) decision today to cut the cash rate by a larger than expected 75 basis points to 5.25 per cent.

Financial markets were widely expecting a 50 basis point cut to 5.5 per cent.

Abbey has put up the interest rates on its tracker mortgages for new customers by 0.5%, in the week the Bank of England is expected to cut rates.

Two-year trackers have gone up from 5.79% to 6.29%, and three-year rates from 5.69% to 6.19%. Existing customers are unaffected.

The majority of economists expect the Bank to cut rates by 0.5% on Thursday.

Abbey says it is responding to similar moves by its competitors and says it has recently cut some fixed rate deals.

Mortgage rates rose to an average of 6.16 percent in Colorado last week, up 4.5 percent from the previous week, according to Zillow Mortage Rate Monitor data released Tuesday.

The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rate was 6.16 percent in Colorado in the week ended Nov. 2, up from 5.89 percent in the week ended Sept. 26, according to Zillow.

The U.S. average 30-year fixed mortgage rate was 6.26 percent, up 4.2 percent from 6.00 percent the previous week.

Rates were lowest in Oregon (6.12 percent) and Georgia (6.14 percent) and highest in Michigan (6.48 percent) and Massachusetts (6.40 percent).

Abbey, the UK mortgage bank owned by Spain’s Banco Santander (SAN.MC: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), said it would raise repayment rates on its tracker loans by up to 0.5 of a percentage point to new customers from Wednesday.

Abbey, the UK’s third-biggest mortgage lender in 2007, said the increase came in response to tracker rate rises by competitors including Nationwide and Northern Rock.

Analysts said the higher rates on tracker mortgages — which are set at a fixed margin over the Bank of England base rate — are designed to offset the impact on lenders’ profits of any further rate cuts by the central bank.