I got quoted a 5/1 at 5% with .261 back the other day. 30 year fixed at 5.5% with a quarter back.

So what is it at now? We had some large rate increases over the past few days.

Yes we did, I was lucky to lock in that file. I priced something out yesterday, however, still with good pricing. Quoted 5.5% on a 5/1 arm with a half back, and that was with a 3/8 hit to the rebate for the fico! Did not quote out a 30 fixed, however, I have to believe the 30 fixed is floating around a bit under 6% right now close to par.

Yeah that is where most are today that I looked at.

Have you looked at that home accelerator program? It's adjustable, but the rate is floating down around 5% right now, can buy it into the mid 4's for about a point and a half, pretty nifty product if you have not checked it out. CMG offers it, not sure if they offer it nationwide or just in CA though.

Are the banks trying to get their lost $billions$ back by charging higher rates?

Business credit crunch

SOURCE: Federal Reserve

The Federal Reserve cut interest rates five times in as many months, but these lower costs aren’t being passed along to business borrowers. Despite the Fed’s efforts to ease credit, nearly a third of banks tightened standards for commercial and industrial loans in the last three months of 2007, according to a senior loan officer survey of 79 banks. About two-fifths said they raised loan rates, or didn’t lower them, despite their own reduced borrowing costs.
Business growth is tied to availability of credit, which is used for expansion, product development and acquisitions. This allows companies to boost output and create jobs, which the Fed hopes will spur the slowing economy. “More expensive and less available credit seems likely to continue to be a source of restraint on economic growth,” Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told the Senate last week.
For the second straight quarter, the Fed survey showed a greater difference between the rate banks charge businesses for loans and the rate banks pay for the money. “The tightening in credit availability from banks is a serious concern for the Fed because it is one of the key channels by which easier monetary policy is to be transmitted to the real economy,” writes Merrill Lynch economist David Rosenberg in a report. As a result, though the Fed cut its target short-term rate to 3 percent, he expects another half-percentage point cut before the central bank’s March 18 meeting and eventual easing to 1 percent.
Demand for commercial and industrial loans declined in the quarter, due to fewer mergers and acquisitions and reduced investment in plants and equipment, according to the banks surveyed. Citi Investment Research analyst Tobias M. Levkovich says capital investments usually decline in the three quarters after credit becomes harder to come by. Such declines bode poorly for companies in the materials, energy and equipment, technology and capital goods sectors, he says.

Shaila Dani, Kristen Girard
AP