The Fed was back in the markets this morning aggressively buying Mortgage Backed Securities pushing prices higher as it tries to lower home loan rates. The Fed will be buying $500B of Mortgage Bonds - that equals approximately $4B in buying power each trading day...that is pretty good buying support, which could help mortgage rates move steadily sideways to lower over the first two quarters of 2009.

At 2pm ET the Fed will release the Minutes from the December 16 Meeting which may shed some light on the Fed's view of the economy and the reasoning behind the aggressive cut. The Fed lowered the Fed Funds Rate by .75% to a range of 0 to .25% at that meeting.

With the Fed providing underlying buying support to Mortgage Bonds, I am recommending to float longer-term, but on short-term transactions we should be ready to lock at a moments notice to protect pricing. We will likely see the lowest rates in our lifetime during the first two quarters of 2009. This will be a once in a lifetime opportunity.

For more information about mortgage rates in Pinellas County and surrounding Tampa Bay, contact The Tampa Bay Mortgage Pro.