January 28, 2006
The Greenspan effect

The US Fed has been on an interest raising spree for over a year now and this has affected the US real estate market through a rise in mortgage interest rates. A year ago, 30-year mortgages averaged 5.6 percent and now average mortgage rates stand close to 6.2 percent. While, for Greenspan, a continual increase in interest rates may have served as a weapon to fight inflation, for the real-estate market, it has acted as a decelerator.

However, it is widely expected that the next rate increase by the Fed will be the last in the series and beyond that rates should stabilize. This should have an evening-out affect on mortgage rates and the real estate market as well.