Mortgage Rate News

The national average for mortgage interest rates continued to dip in November as the 30-yr fixed-rate average fell to 6.21 percent. In comparison, the 30-yr fixed rate for the month of October was 6.38 percent and the rate from the November 2006 was 6.24 percent.

Analysis

Is stabilization around the bend?

With national interest rates near historic lows, a slight decline of available homes on the market and decelerating declines in prices, there is enough evidence to give hope that the market may finally be showing signs of stabilizing.

However, experts are not ready to throw caution to the wind and proclaim an end to the volatile market. November’s slight increase in sales and slight decrease in interest rates raises hope, but every analyst understands that it is only one month’s data.

One of the market’s primary concerns is that consumer confidence fell drastically in November by 8.7 percent to 87.3 points. Consumer confidence has dropped a whopping 24.6 points since July. Analysts are expecting consumer confidence to grow through the winter months, as it traditionally does, with the hopes of surpassing 90-plus points for multiple months.

The employment indicator is one of the strong signs, as November makes the 51st month in a row of positive job gains. In November, another 94,000 net jobs were made available, totaling 3.8 million in the past 24 months.

Predictions

The mortgage rate average seems to be holding for the time being, and there may be slight variances over the coming weeks. There is a high probability that the Fed will cut the rates at least twice in the upcoming year.