Real estate notebook
Published 6:48 pm Friday, April 16, 2010
Mortgages
Rates for long-term mortgages dropped this week but still remained above 5 percent, Freddie Mac said Thursday.
The average rate on a 30-year fixed rate mortgage was 5.07 percent this week, down from 5.21 percent a week earlier, a survey by the mortgage financier Freddie Mac said. Last week’s average rate for a 30-year, fixed mortgage had been the highest since mid-August, when it was 5.29 percent.
Rates had dropped to a record low of 4.71 percent in December, pushed down by a campaign by the Federal Reserve to reduce borrowing costs for consumers. The program ended at the end of March, but the Fed could revie the program if the economy weakens.
Seminars
A free homebuyer seminar by the ReMax Bothell Office will be offered from 10 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. April 24 in the Woodlands Technology Building, 1909 14th St. SE, Bothell. Cheryl Lewis and Rom Lasswell will review the real estate and financial markets. Attendees at the state Housing Finance Commission seminar will receive a completion certificate. Call 425-412-5236.
Send your real estate news to Mike Benbow, Business editor, The Herald, P.O. Box 930, Everett, WA 98206, by fax at 425-339-3435 or by e-mail at economy@heraldnet.com.
