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Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said accelerating rates of foreclosures and delinquencies can have a significant impact on the economy and called for more to be done in order to prevent them.

Speaking Monday night at the Columbia Business School's 32nd annual dinner, Bernanke said the rate of foreclosures will likely increase in 2008 and that traditional anti-foreclosure steps may not be working...

"Average mortgage rates were up for all loan products reported," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist. "However, for the first 11 weeks so far this year, the average 30-year fixed rate is still below 5.9 percent, and the average 30-year rate in January was the lowest since July 2005.

"The combination of lower house prices and lower mortgage rates contributed to a more affordable market for homebuyers.

Mortgage interest rates as reported by Freddie Mac were only slightly changed if changed at all during the week ended December 27 - the last full survey week of the year.

The Primary Mortgage Market Survey reported an average for the 30-year fixed rate mortgage (FRM) of 6.17 percent with an average 0.5 point. One week earlier the 30-year averaged 6.14 percent with 0.4 point.

If you don't have a TV, a radio, or a newspaper, you may have missed all of the negative press surrounding the mortgage and housing markets. The severity of the situation has created a sort of panic that has paralyzed the consumer. Rather than deal with any aspect of the problem, we wait for someone to yell: "it's OK to come out now!" If you are waiting for a "bottom" to the overall crisis, and for all the news to turn positive, don't hold your breath. But where there's tragedy, there's opportunity. Let me show you why it is, in fact, "OK to come out now," and why you might be sorry if you wait too long.

"Interest rates on conforming long-term fixed-rate mortgages declined slightly, while rates on one-year adjustable rate mortgages increased by about a quarter of a percent," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist. "The increase in ARM rates is consistent with...

Some interesting figures have been released by the Mortgage Bankers Association which has announced that mortgage application activity increased 8.1 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from the previous week and 7.7 percent when unadjusted. The activity is 18.0 percent higher than one year ago.

According to the Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey for the previous week, long term interest rates were down for the third week in a row. However, the Weekly Mortgage Market Survey released by the Mortgage Bankers Association reported quite the opposite results with rates up sharply from a week earlier.

"Long-term mortgage rates continued to move lower for a third consecutive week, in part reflecting a moderation in core inflation," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist. "In the statement accompanying their decision to leave the target federal funds rate unchanged, the Fed noted that..."