Carolyn Said, Chronicle Staff Writer
Friday, October 7, 2011
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Steven Senne / AP
A home with a for sale sign in front, in Newton, Mass. The average rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage fell to 3.94 percent this week, the lowest rate ever. For those who can qualify, it’s an extraordinary opportunity to buy or refinance. |
Mortgage rates hit historic lows on Thursday, falling below 4 percent for the first time since Freddie Mac started keeping track in 1971.
The average rate for a 30-year fixed was 3.94 percent for the week ended Thursday, it said. The average 15-year rate was 3.26 percent.
The bad news is that only a small pool of borrowers can qualify to take advantage of those cheap mortgages – and many of them have already done so during the past months of falling rates.
“It’s certainly a historic and psychological barrier to go below 4 percent,” said Guy Cecala of Inside Mortgage Finance. “But I don’t think it will have a huge impact because people are not buying homes for other reasons than the interest rate. We tend to be refinancing the same group of qualified borrowers, not really opening up the market to other people.”
Mitchell Chernock, president of Sky Valley Financial, a mortgage broker in Benicia, put it more bluntly. Continue reading “Mortgage rates at all-time lows, but few qualify”