Mortgage rates fell for the second day in a row Wednesday, and could be heading toward levels home buyers and owners haven’t seen this year.
That drop is what the Federal Reserve was aiming for when it announced a plan Tuesday to buy $600 billion in mortgage-related securities in an effort to slow falling home prices and rising foreclosures, while kick starting demand among fearful homebuyers.
The average interest rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage Wednesday was 5.76 percent, the lowest it has been since February, according to HSH Associates, which publishes mortgage information. The lowest daily figure this year was 5.47 percent on Jan. 23.
Mortgage brokers fielded a steady stream of calls Wednesday from borrowers looking to refinance. But some of those callers were confronted with an unwelcome truth: only those with good credit histories and equity in their properties need apply. And with the damage wrought by the real estate downturn, now in its third year, that number has declined dramatically.
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