Congress Enacts Bigger and Better
Home Buyer Tax Credit

A tax credit of up to $8,000 is now available for qualified first-time home buyers purchasing a principal residence on or after January 1, 2009 and before December 1, 2009. Unlike the tax credit enacted in 2008, the new credit does not have to be repaid.  

Learn how you can take advantage of this $8,000 tax credit to buy the home of your dreams. First-time home buyers who purchased a principal residence on or after April 9, 2008 and before January 1, 2009 may qualify for a $7,500 tax credit. Call us for more information.

Mortgage rates dropped this week to their lowest level in the history of Bankrate's survey. The benchmark 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage fell 6 basis points, to 5.13 percent, according to the Bankrate.com's national survey of large lenders. A basis point is one-hundredth of 1 percentage point. The mortgages in this week's survey had an average total of 0.46 discount and origination points. One year ago, the 30-year fixed was 6.12 percent; four weeks ago, it was 5.41 percent.

The benchmark 15-year, fixed-rate mortgage fell 7 basis points, to 4.73 percent. The benchmark 5/1 adjustable-rate mortgage rose 2 basis points, to 5.23 percent.

Mortgage application activity ticked up just slightly for the week ending March 27, rising by a seasonally adjusted 3 percent compared with one week earlier, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Refinancing was up 3.7 percent while applications for new purchase rose by 0.1 percent.

This week's readings show that activity remains strong one week after the MBA reported an increase of more than 32 percent in applications. Still, the MBA now forecasts 2009 mortgage originations to top $2.78 trillion this year.

That would make this year the fourth highest for originations, behind only 2002, 2003 and 2005, according to the MBA