Mortgage Rates Fall Below 6%

Mortgage rates slipped below 6% percent today—posting their first decline in more than 3 weeks. Analysts say the dip came as investors turned to the safety of Treasury bonds. The increase in investments there caused yields to fall on that debt, which in turn helped lower mortgage rates, which are often tied to related indexes.

Locking in a rate is always a roll of the dice, but I doubt rates are going to slide much farther in the near future. So if you are in a position to get approved for a mortgage in this credit crunch, now may be a great time to lock in the rate. Historically, a 30-year at under 6% is a great deal…and this week, a 30-year fixed rate was averaging 5.94%, down from 6.1% last week. CNN also reports that mortgage applications were up slightly, despite all the turmoil in the banking world. According to Reuters, that was a slight uptick after a big hit last week:

The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted index of mortgage application activity rose 2.2 percent in the week ending Oct. 3 to 465.5 after falling 23 percent the prior week to the lowest level since the end of August.