While the 30-year mortgage rate increased, the rate for the 15-year mortgage went down to a record low. The Wall Street Journal reported that the 30-year rose slightly from 4.78% last week to 4.79% for the week ending June 3. Meanwhile, the 15-year rate dropped from 4.21% last week to 4.2% this week — the lowest level since Freddie Mac began tracking mortgage rates in 1991. The one-year and five-year adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) are at 3.95% and 3.94%, respectively. The one-year ARM was unchanged from last week, but still at record lows, and the five-year ARM fell from 3.97% a week ago.
The Long Island Business News is reporting that the foreclosure rates on Long Island are worse, compared to statewide and national foreclosure rates. A report released by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York surveyed 544 U.S counties with at least 1,000 active loans and listed Suffolk County as the 21st worst in the nation and Nassau as the 44th worst. (Worst in the nation? Miami-Dade County in Florida.) In Suffolk County, 27.4 per 1,000 homes had distressed mortgages and Nassau had 20.7 per 1,000. These rates exceed the statewide rate (9.2/1000) and the U.S. (10.4/1,000). Miami-Dade was at 50.1/1,000. The hardest-hit hamlets in Long Island (from west to east): Roosevelt, Uniondale, Wyandanch, Brentwood, Central Islip, Shirley, Mastic Beach and Mastic.
More bad news on Long Island: the number of homes going into contracts during the month of May fell 65% to 1,118 homes, down from 3,168 homes in April. May’s numbers were lower year-over-year; in May 2009, there were 1,781 homes into contract. This could be attributed to the expiration of the federal tax credit at the end of April.
As of 12:55 p.m. today, the Dow lost 224.53 points as the result of a dismal jobs report in May as the increase in nonfarm payrolls fell below economists’ expectations and the euro falling to a four-year low against the U.S. dollar, with recent economic jitters now plaguing Hungary. Investors, reacting the same way they did to the Greek debt crisis, are putting their money back into the greenback.