Mortgage Rates Lowest Since 1951

It's back to the future for homeowners, as Freddie Mac announces that mortgage interest rates are now at their lowest point since 1951. Americans' bread and butter, the 30-year fixed rate loan, dropped to an average of 4.19 percent this week, down from 4.27 percent a week prior. Fifteen-year loans slid from 3.72 percent last week to 3.62 percent. Put in context, 30-year mortgages ran an average 5.09 percent in the first week of 2010; 15-year mortgages averaged 4.5 percent. The last time the interest rate to own a home was this low, Truman was president and the largest threat to Americans was Communism, not foreclosure. But while credit remains tight, savvy homeowners are still capitalizing on the historic low rates. Applications for refinancing spiked 21 percent last week, the biggest surge since April 2009, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.