The United States housing market remains strong, buoyed by falling mortgage rates and a strong economy. Because of this, sales of new homes in June increased by 6.1 percent nationally, the biggest gain in seven months.
Fannie May, previously known as the Federal National Mortgage Association released statistics that said interest rates continue to fall in the bond market dipping to a low of 6.32 percent. The long bond (30-year bond) yield hasn’t finished that low since February 1966.
Interest rates remained low in part due to the message to Congress from Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan. Because of the low yield on the long bond, the average interest rate on a 30-year fixed rate mortgage hit 7.43 last week.
Refinancing account for about 30 percent of new mortgage applications.
