How much more do you think the interest rates will drop on fixed rate mortgages

They dropped this morning and my guess is that they will drop at least one more time before the end of Feb. Beyond that they will wait to see what it does for the economy. More than likely will not go past 4.5% and will not stay there to long. It is a great time to buy a home..This is just my opinion considering the election year, the economy, and history of what happens during a Buyers market. We will all wait to see, but do not wait to long.

Oh . great question. Of course, there is no sure answer.

Thing is, even though the Federal Reserve has dropped its Fed Funds rate, it only has limited effect on the rates on ur mortgage loans.

A mortgage loan is a 30-year loan, whereas the Fed Funds rate is for short-term loans.

Mortgage loans track 10-year Treasury Bonds, but r a bit higher, due to the added risk.

And, sometimes long-term bonds go in the opposite direction of short-term bonds.

But, back to ur question.

I think we've hit rock-bottom for mortgage loan interest rates. Sure, they might go lower, but now is as good a time to lock-in a rate. I just refinanced from a 6.75% fixed-rate loan to what I hope is a 5.625 fixed-rate loan. It was only today, so I am not sure what we ended up with.

Best part, it was with no closing costs. I could've received a better rate if I was willing to pay closing costs.

I think brand-new loans can get a better rate than a refinance.

If everything turns bad over the coming months, rates might drop lower, but then u can just refinance!

http://bostonreb.com - The Boston Real Estate Blog

One never knows. In the short to medium term, they will likely come down. Even though the Fed dropped overnight rates .75%, that does not mean that longer-term rates will drop. If the drop is considered to be inflationary, long-term rates can actually increase. But considering that the economy is currently in the dumps, I do not see inflation as an immediate concern, so I do see rates dropping. Another item that keeps rates up is credit spreads . the interest rate that u get is a premium to a risk-free rate, or a treasury of a similar duration. That credit spread, or premium to a risk-free rate has been high recently because of all of the subprime losses & the drop in real estate prices, which has led to losses on ''A paper'' portfolios. That credit spread should come down over the near term. How much? I can see a normal fixed rate 30-year loan being at 5.1% to 5.6%. That is about all we will see for now. The hybrids (3/1, 5/1, 7/1) should be a bit lower.

But in the long-term, inflation will creep back in from three sources --- weakness of the U.S. Treasuries (greater credit risk), inflation caused by increased cost to produce overseas, & ''crowding out'' when the government borrows to pay for debt which competes for dollars with the average consumer - pushing rates up.

So go get ur fixed rate under 5.5% & be happy.

P.S. -- there is also a chance to get a loan at 5% or lower in the next two years, but that is a risky proposition to wait for it.

All in all, the lower rates is good for real estate prices . should keep them up. And that should keep loan losses down. that is good, too. It could be a good time to get a loan . if u have a good stable job & want to purchase.

There is no indication that fixed rates will go down at all. Unfortunately there is a misunderstanding of the ''rate'' reported on from the Fed. This is the ''target'' rate which is set by the market & reported by the Fed. The best thing it does when it goes down is to inspire consumer confidence.

Rates likely will go down very little -if at all- before the Fed target rate rises again. Unlike the last time the Feds had to set that rate lower there is far less liquidity in the market & consumer confidence was not waning - it was building.

The truth is rates r still historically low. If u r looking to refinance I have seen rates this week as low as 5.25 with no discount on a fixed 30. It did not get much lower than that at the lowest of lows.

It really depends on what happens with the bond market for bonds that drive Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac. If we hit inflation & recession becomes a reality the Fed change will not affect the mortgage rate that will be important to you.

It also depends if u have a conforming (agency) loan or a non-conforming loan (outside of agency guidelines falsely referred to as ''sub'' prime).

Bottom line: I would LOVE for rates to go lower but it is not a likely reality that u will seen them go much lower than they r right now.

Not as much as they might go up if u wait.

Realistically rates will never go below 4.5%, that is only about .6% below a rate u can get right now. However, we know that just last month a rate of 6.5% was considered good, that is almost 1.5% higher than right now. It can go back to that in a heartbeat. It takes months, if not years for rates to get this low & no time at all for them to spiral back up.

You do the math & gamble on what it will be next month & determine if it is worth it. People that r waiting r committing financial suicide, it makes no sense at all! Greed is bad in this case!