Mortgage Rates

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. mortgage applications surged last week to their highest since mid-May as consumers sought to take advantage of the lowest interest rates in months, data from an industry group showed on Wednesday. The Mortgage Bankers Association said rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages, the most widely used loan, were below 5 percent for a third straight week, reaching a four-month low. Demand for home refinancing loans was the highest since mid-May. Appetite for applications to...Read Full Story

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. mortgage applications jumped last week to their highest since late May as interest rates tumbled below 5 percent, data from an industry group showed on Wednesday. The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted index of mortgage applications, which includes both purchase and refinance loans, for the week ended Sept 18 increased 12.8 percent to 668.5, the highest level since the week ended May 22. While consumers clamored for home refinancing loans...Read Full Story

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. mortgage rates dropped to a record low, smashing through a previous record set earlier this year, a closely watched mortgage survey showed Thursday. The lowest mortgage rates in decades and high affordability have also helped the hard-hit housing market find some footing this year after a three-year slump. Interest rates on U.S. 30-year fixed-rate mortgages, the most widely used loan, fell for a fifth consecutive week, averaging 4.71 percent for the week ending...Read Full Story

The jobless rate rose in most Illinois metropolitan areas in October. Figures released Wednesday by the Illinois Department of Employment Security show unemployment was highest in the Rockford area at 15.7 percent. That's up from 15.2 percent in September. The Kankakee-Bradley area ranked second with a 13.3 percent jobless rate. Also in double-digits were Decatur with 12.7 percent, Danville with 12.1 percent, Peoria with 11.7 percent, the Chicago-Naperville-Joliet area with 10.4 percent and...Read Full Story

Toys R Us Inc. said Friday that is has refinanced a European credit revolver set to expire in 2012 and has secured new rates of about Libor plus 4 percent. Libor is the London Interbank Offered Rate offered between banks. The new loan gives the toy seller access to 112 million pounds ($196.3 million) to fund its European and Australian operations. The credit revolver was refinanced as an international asset-backed loan facility with a new expiration date of Oct. 15, 2012, replacing one that...Read Full Story