Mortgage rates hit new lows

Mortgage rates went from really low to really, really low this week, Freddie Mac reported Thursday. Average rates for both fixed- and adjustable-rate loans hit record lows. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.12 percent with an average 0.7 point, down from 4.22 percent and 4.35 percent a year ago. The average rate for a 15-year fixed loan was 3.33 percent with an average 0.6 point, down from 3.39 percent last week and 3.83 percent a year ago.

Interest rates followed Treasury bond yields downward after abysmal news on jobs and unemployment for August – some of the same factors that prevent local would-be borrowers from qualifying for the low rates. “We have seen weak job growth on Long Island as well,” says Pearl Kamer, chief economist of the Long Island Association.

July was the third consecutive month of job losses in the Long Island labor market, according to the most recent economic report released by the Long Island Association. Some 7,800 jobs were lost between July 2010 and July 2011.