PARAMOUNT MORTGAGE - LENDER'S BLOG

Is the financial bailout working?

St. Louis media seeks expert advice from Paramount Mortgage

St. Louis, MO -- “With so much debate over bailouts and the recession, now comes a sliver of hope that the banking bailout money may finally be trickling down and starting to restore some confidence in the mortgage markets,” stated Matt Sczesny, news reporter at KMOV television during a live broadcast Wednesday night.

Sczesny approached Paramount’s senior vice president Ruth E. Battle for expert commentary to be included in his story about falling mortgage rates and their affect on the St. Louis real estate market.

Dropping interest rates are attracting home buyers back into the market. Existing home owners are dumping their high interest rate mortgages and refinancing to reduce their monthly payments. This has resulted in a spike in new mortgage applications at Paramount Mortgage. “I think that this is part of the bailout plan that is actually working,” remarked Battle. “Consumers can benefit from the lower interest rates that are being offered right now.”

Sczesny noted that the web site bankrate.com, which tracks the national averages, indicated that the 30-year fixed mortgage rate in October was at a high of 6.5% and has now fallen to near 5.6%.

“We can look back and see that where the housing industry has gone our economy has followed,” commented Battle, “so when positive things happen in the market” in regards to falling interest rates, “it helps new people buy houses,  gets the supply of houses down, and increases the demand for those homes. I’m looking for some positive things to happen.”

See the entire news story interview which streams online at the KMOV television web site by clicking here: Mortgage rates dropping fast