The Real Estate Wonk: Where mortgage rates are heading - Baltimore homes, apartments, real estate: Buying, selling, renting and housing news from reporter Jamie Smith Hopkins

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September 9, 2008

Where mortgage rates are heading

Uncertainty about the fate of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac helped push mortgage rates up in recent months, but they're going down now that Uncle Sam has stepped in.

Bloomberg reports:

Thirty-year fixed rates dropped about a quarter of a percentage point by Monday and may head lower, said Keith Shaughnessy, president of Foundation Mortgage in Littleton, Massachusetts. The average 30-year fixed is now 6.08 percent, according to Bankrate Inc., a research firm in North Palm Beach, Florida.

Posted by Jamie Smith Hopkins at 11:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (9)

Comments

Disturbia

You guys are creepy!

Posted by: Dunn | September 9, 2008 3:14 PM

You have no idea! You won awards for promoting Baltimore City during the boom. Just because you are Ms. Negative now, doesn't change the fact. You were a cheerleader like the rest. You have the award... You were late.

Posted by: Dunn | September 9, 2008 3:19 PM

You know everthing. Baltimore city is better because you are here.

Posted by: Dunn | September 9, 2008 3:30 PM

Christian, I never promoted Baltimore City. I simply did my best to tell people what was happening to the local housing market, the same thing I attempt to do now.

Many times during the boom I reminded readers that the price increases were very unusually large and some economists predicted drops in the future as a result. By the same token, I reach out now to economists with varying opinions about when the slump will end.

Posted by: Jamie Smith Hopkins | September 9, 2008 3:32 PM

I'm sorry, why are you attacking Jamie right now? She is quoting a Bloomberg report.

Thanks for the reporting, keep it up.

Posted by: Alex | September 9, 2008 3:41 PM

You were telling on me in the middle school. You and your 'burbs!

Posted by: Dumb | September 9, 2008 3:53 PM

Oh, my poor head ...

Posted by: Jamie Smith Hopkins | September 9, 2008 4:19 PM

Welcome to surreal blog...

Posted by: semiconscious | September 10, 2008 10:11 AM

With surreal prices, surreal loans, and surreal realtors, a surreal blog can only be appropriate...

Posted by: January1954 | September 10, 2008 7:00 PM

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About Jamie Smith Hopkins

Jamie Smith Hopkins, a Baltimore Sun reporter since 1999, writes about the regional economy. Her reporting on the housing market has won national and local awards. Hopkins is a Columbia native and has lived in Maryland all her life, save for 10 months spent covering schools in Ames, Iowa.
She trained to become a wonk by spending large chunks of time as a geek and an insufferable know-it-all.
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