Finance Bright Spot: Mortgage Rates

The U.S. finance, real estate and mortgage industries appear to be on a continuous loop of bad news. Lehman Brothers'(LEH Quote) bankruptcy filing is just the latest. There will be more to come.

Amid the turmoil, rates for home loans posted their biggest decline in more than a decade, a drop of more than 40 basis points, or 0.42 percentage points.

That news should cheer homebuyers with excellent credit who haven't locked in rates. Last week's rate change is big enough to make a real difference in monthly payments. Rates on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 5.93% with 0.7 point at the end of last week, down from 6.35% and 0.7 point a week earlier. On a $200,000 mortgage, that translates to a $54 difference in monthly principal and interest payments for the least-risky homebuyers. ...