Reply #107: Mortgage Rates Are Low - So Where are the Home Buyers? [View All]

[Robbien]

RISMEDIA, Jan. 17, 2008-(MCT)-Interest rates on the conventional 30-year fixed rate mortgage are at their lowest in more than two years despite a constricting mortgage market that has made it tougher for some borrowers to get the home loans they want. But so far, the super-low fixed rate hasn’t sparked a shopping stampede.

Investors reportedly are showing renewed interest in repossessed homes and pre-foreclosures, and many homeowners are calling about refinancing existing home loans, local real estate agents say. But would-be buyers in the Twin Cities are skittish about falling values and are sitting on their hands until the market strikes rock bottom, they say. Then there’s the holiday hangover that, one Realtor noted, can drag down January sales.

In other words, declining rates haven’t been enough to kick buyers off the fence yet. That’s a key frustration for Realtors who see opportunity in falling prices and very low rates and want to burn off the excess inventory clogging the market.

“I met with a loan officer yesterday, and he said, ‘Where is everybody?’ ”
http://rismedia.com/wp/2008-01-16/mortgage-rates-are-low-so-where-are-the-home-buyers/


Hard to believe this is a serious article in a Real Estate Magazine.