1) I am directly concerned, and my most successful single investment to date has been refinnacing my house at 6.625%, which is putting more money in my pocket than almost anything else I could have done.
2) There are many different kinds of mortgages: adjustables, mortages with points paid in advance, etc. The "average mortgage figure" issued by the US govt and other entities averages loans paid with points with loans paid with no points or even negative points (borrower gets some cash back secured by the house: go ahead and buy that washer-dryer, is what it's saying). I follow the 30-year, fixed rate, zero points down mortgage rate because it continues to be the most popular of the mortgage options and is a good, consistent indicator of what is happening with housing and by implication all production tied to housing. It is also a good indicator of what's going on with credit lines secured by housing equity, which are an important component of consumer demand.
But you can't just say "mortgage rates are X." There are too many different flavors. So I focus on the 30-year fixed rate zero point much like the bond traders focus on the 30 year Treasury.
-gn.
-- Gregory P. Nowell Associate Professor Department of Political Science, Milne 100 State University of New York 135 Western Ave. Albany, New York 12222
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