Interest Rates Are Falling. Thank Vladimir Putin.
If there was one thing that market analysts thought they could agree upon at the start of the year, it was that interest rates were set to rise. The economy was improving. The Federal Reserve was pulling away from its program of pumping money into bond markets. The era of cheap money seemed to be coming to an end after all these years.
Never mind.
Longer-term interest rates have been falling this year, including hitting a new six-month low on Wednesday. Ten-year U.S. Treasury bonds yielded 3.03 percent at the end of 2013 — and 2.54 percent on Wednesday. They continued to decline on Thursday morning. Lower borrowing costs filter through to homebuyers, as well; the average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was 4.17 percent on Wednesday, according to Bankrate.com, down from 4.54 percent at the end of last year.
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Never mind.
Longer-term interest rates have been falling this year, including hitting a new six-month low on Wednesday. Ten-year U.S. Treasury bonds yielded 3.03 percent at the end of 2013 — and 2.54 percent on Wednesday. They continued to decline on Thursday morning. Lower borrowing costs filter through to homebuyers, as well; the average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was 4.17 percent on Wednesday, according to Bankrate.com, down from 4.54 percent at the end of last year.
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