By Jeannine Aversa
Associated Press
Posted: Friday, Mar. 20, 2009
WASHINGTON Mortgage rates tumbled to historic lows Thursday after the Federal Reserve's sudden decision to print $1.2 trillion and pump it into the economy, a move that also triggered warning signs of inflation – a weaker dollar and the highest oil prices of the year.
The national average rate on a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage fell to 4.94 percent, down nearly a quarter of a percentage point from a day earlier, according to financial publisher HSH Associates.
It was the first time the average had fallen below 5 percent since the publisher began keeping records in 1979. But mortgages were not exactly being passed out freely. Lenders remain extremely strict about who qualifies.
“The real story here is that the low rates are available only to solid gold borrowers,” said Don Fader, an N.C. mortgage broker who was quoting a rate just above 4.6 percent for mortgages Thursday.
The Fed announced Wednesday it would buy $750 billion in mortgage-backed securities and $300 billion in Treasury debt. It also will double its purchases of debt issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to $200 billion.
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