Rates Drop below 5%

Financial turmoil in Europe is bringing our rates back near 50-year lows. At the end of the Federal Reserve's $1.25 trillion mortgage-securities purchase program the housing industry had been expecting mortgage rates to raise. Instead, many in the mortgage industry now say that rates can decrease to as low as 4.86% now, instead of raising to 6% as economists projected, allowing for lower payments for purchasing homes or refinancing mortgages.

Economists are saying that the decline in mortgage rates is largely due to the debt crisis in Europe.

Lower rates means that there will be more people who can qualify for a mortgage and allow others to qualify for a slightly larger loan.