Daily Real Estate News | March 4, 2008
30-Year Rates to Hit 5.5 Percent?
Freddie Mac expects the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate to slip to 5.5 percent this year from 6.3 percent in 2007, marking a 45-year low. But Global Insight Inc. economist Brian Bethune does not expect the drop in mortgage rates to spark a housing rebound.
According to him, "People are going to stay away from the market if they see instability, and lenders are going to have a hard time valuing properties and issuing mortgages."
Freddie Mac also forecasts a decline in economic growth to 2.3 percent from 2.5 percent and a decrease in inflation to 2.5 percent from 4 percent over the same period.
Source: Baltimore Sun (03/04/08)
