Rates on 30-year fixed mortgages fell this week to the lowest level of 2010 and were barely shy of the all-time low.  With the new CA first time home buyer credit, this is a great time to buy Downtown San Diego Real Estate.

Freddie Mac says the average 30 year fixed rate dropped to 4.72 percent, down from 4.79 percent last week. It was just above the record of 4.71 set last December.

The average rate on a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage hit 4.17 percent, down from 4.2 percent last week and the lowest on records dating back to August 1991.  These are good times if you are in the position to be able to buy real estate.

Downtown San Diego Real Estate Holds Steady

Even though mortgage rates are at attractive levels, the housing market hasn’t benefited as much as you might have guessed. The number of home buyers applying for a mortgage to purchase a property fell to the lowest level in 13 years last week and was down 35 percent from a month ago, said the Mortgage Bankers Association.

The government has taken massive steps to facilitate the housing market recovery. A campaign by the Federal Reserve to reduce borrowing costs for consumers pushed rates down to extraordinarily low levels last year.Rates were expected to rise after the Government stopped subsidizing mortgage backed securities in March, but we have seen a shocking trend.

Investors, wary of the European debt crisis and the turbulent stock market, have shifted money into the safety of U.S. Treasury bonds. That has pushed down the interest rate, or yield, on U.S. Treasury debt. Fixed mortgage rates tend to track that yield.

More recently, the latest report on the U.S. employment picture showed that few private-sector jobs are being created. That made investors nervous about the stock market and pushed up bond prices, which also tends to pull down interest rates.

“Following a relatively weak employment report, bond yields fell this week and mortgage rates followed,” said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac’s chief economist.

For those folks that qualify for a loan, this leaves a concentrated inventory of great deals for Downtown San Diego condos.  This is the time of opportunity and that is because most of the general public cannot take advantage of the great sale on Downtown San Diego Real Estate due to financing or loss of jobs.