Athens GA Properties, Athens Georgia Homes, and Athens Real Estate

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) on Friday released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending November 28, 2008, which was a shortened week due to the Thanksgiving holiday.   “Many borrowers missed an opportunity to take advantage when rates dropped sharply for a brief period when the GSEs were placed under conservatorship,” said Orawin Velz, Associate Vice President of Economic Forecasting. “When rates plummeted following the Fed’s announcement that it would buy GSE debt and MBS, many of those on the sidelines decided to quickly jump in and take advantage of lower rates before they began to rebound.”

The MBA survey went on to point out that “the Refinance Index increased 203.3 percent to 3802.8 from the previous week and the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 38.0 percent to 361.1 from one week earlier.  The Conventional Purchase Index increased 37.4 percent while the Government Purchase Index (largely FHA) increased 39.2 percent. All results include an adjustment to account for the Thanksgiving holiday. “

According to the Mortgage Banker’s Association, the average interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 5.47 percent from 5.99 percent, while the average interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 5.13 percent from 5.78 percent.