With all the doom and gloom over housing, you might be surprised to know that this is a fantastic time to get a mortgage. Not if you have poor credit, to be sure. But you can get a great deal on a 30-year, fixed-rate, conforming loan these days if you have a solid FICO score, a manageable debt burden, and proof positive of a reliable income.
You have to go back to around 1961 to find a time when 30-year mortgages had rates this low, according to Keith Gumbinger, a vice-president at financial publisher HSH Associates in Pompton Plains, N.J. For that, thank the U.S. government, which is trying to jump-start the stalled housing market by buying up mortgage-backed securities. On Dec. 31, Freddie Mac reported that average rates on 30-year fixed mortgages dropped to 5.1 percent for the week, down about 1.3 percentage points since late October and the lowest since its survey began in 1971.
Rates are probably headed even lower in 2009, raising the question of whether you should borrow now or wait for a better deal. The (read more here)
