Mortgage Rate Relief Might Not Last Long

From reuters.com:

By Julie Haviv - Analysis
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Massive efforts by the Federal Reserve to bring down mortgage rates have so far been a success, but homeowners had better act fast because analysts say record low rates could be gone as soon as this summer.
Thirty-year mortgage rates dropped to a low of 5.01 percent this week -- their lowest since 1971 -- after the Federal Reserve unveiled a plan in late November to buy as much as $500 billion of securities backed by Fannie Mae (FNM.P), Freddie Mac (FRE.P) and Ginnie Mae.
They could touch as low as 4.50 percent, but the cheap loans will not last long, mortgage experts warned.
"The downward trend we have seen in mortgage rates will not last beyond the first half of this year," said Celia Chen, senior director of housing economics at Moody's Economy.com in West Chester, Pennsylvania.
"By then, the Federal Reserve's program will have run its course and other issues will move to the forefront that could push mortgage rates higher," she said.
The Fed has also embarked on a program to buy up to $100 billion in unsecured debt of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Home Loan Banks in a move also aimed at lowering interest rates on mortgages.
The prospect of affordable home financing has provided a glimmer of hope for the U.S. economy with the housing market in the worst downturn since the Great Depression.
But if mortgage rates rise, they will further paralyze a housing market already beset by plunging home prices, an unwieldy supply of homes for sale, tighter lending standards by risk-shy banks and surging foreclosures.
Even if the Fed extends its mortgage bond buying program past the summer, its other efforts to flood financial markets with cash will work against low rates.
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