Best Mortgage Rates Stay Below 5%

Lenders are offering traditional fixed-rate mortgages for less than 5% in nine of the 10 major cities we surveyed this month.
That’s quite an improvement from July when only one of the 10 cities we looked at had those loans available for less than 5%.

It’s nearly as good as what we found in November, when average mortgage rates plunged to new record lows and loans were available for less than 5% in every single city we surveyed.

By any historical standard, a 30-year, fixed-rate loan that costs less than 6.5% is a good deal. That makes today’s rates nothing short of spectacular.

Top 6-Month CD Rates Hold At 1.60%

Country Bank leapt to the top of our rankings of the best 6-month CD rates last month — and it’s still there.
The small bank with 14 branches in central Massachusetts, continues to pay 1.60% APY, with a very reasonable minimum deposit of just $500.

The downside is that you can’t open an account online. You have to call the bank at (800) 322-8233 and a representative will explain how to buy a certificate of deposit by mail.

But Country Bank has been at or near the top of our rankings for almost six months and we haven’t heard a word of complaint about the bank’s customer service.

Four other banks are offering 1.40% APY to savers in all 50 states. They are:

The Jacksonville Bank, which has five locations in northeast Florida and requires a $1,000 minimum deposit.

AmTrust Direct, whose parent company was seized by the FDIC in December and sold to New York Community Bank. It requires a $1,000 minimum deposit.

Earthstar Bank, with four branches in Philadelphia, requires a minimum deposit of $500 in new money to earn this rate.

The Palladian Private Bank, a division of The PrivateBank and Trust Co. , with 34 locations in 10 Midwestern states. A $10,000 minimum is required.

Those rates are more than four times the national average for returns on 6-month CDs, which has fallen to a record low 0.33% APY this month.

Click on our CD calculator to find the return on any certificate of deposit, regardless of size, interest rate or term.

Raise Interest Rates To Spur Lending?

We know that flies in the face of all conventional economic wisdom.

But for the past year the Federal Reserve has been providing commercial banks with an almost limitless supply of free money in the hope that they’ll make lots of new loans and help boost the economy out of the recession.

Yet the banks are extending precious little credit to consumers. To small businesses. To anyone.

Could it be that Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke has pushed conventional economic wisdom too far by driving interest rates too low?

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Best 24-Month CD Rates Edge Lower

The banks are pretty much the same. But the returns are worse.

That’s the sorry story of our latest rankings of the best, nationally available 24-month CD rates.

In November our top-paying banks were offering 2-year certificates of deposit for 2.60% to 2.55% APY and you only needed a $1,000 minimum deposit to qualify for the top rate.

This month you’ll earn 2.50% to 2.30% APY and need a whopping $50,000 to qualify for the top rate.

Although that’s still twice as much as you can make with the typical 2-year CD, it’s not saying much. The average rate on these CDs plunged to a record low of 1.26% APY last week.

The best, nationally available deals on 24-month CDs are:

2.50% APY with a minimum deposit of $50,000 for “Silver CDs” from Frontier Bank, which has 50 branches in Washington and Oregon. You can also earn 2.45% with a $25,000 minimum deposit and 2.40% with a $500 minimum deposit.

2.40 APY with a minimum deposit of $1,000 from The Jacksonville Bank, with five locations in that Florida city.

2.40 APY with a minimum deposit of $1,000 from Atlantic Coast Bank, with 12 full-service branches in southeast Georgia and northeast Florida.

2.30 APY with a $5,000 minimum from Hudson City Bank with dozens of branches in New Jersey, New York and Connecticut. If you live near a Hudson City branch the minimum deposit is only $500.

Click here to compare these offers with the best CD rates from dozens of other banks in our database.

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How To Get Discover’s 5% Rebate In 2010

Discover Card has promoted its 5% Cashback Bonus on “rotating items” for quite some time.

But never knowing what might be eligible for that hefty rebate a few months down the road aggravated more than a few Discover More cardholders.

Now Discover is publishing a calendar of future offers on the Web page where you must sign-up in advance to qualify for each bonus.

Here’s where and when you can earn the 5% rebate on purchases at grocery stores, hotels, movie theaters and lots of other places during the first nine months of 2010.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE POST.

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