Mortgages: Seduced By Singles

Seduced By Singles

San Diego-based Home Federal Savings & Loan normally processes about 210 applications for home mortgage loans in a week. But last week more than 600 would-be borrowers swamped Home Federal's 163 branches across California. Many offices ran out of printed mortgage applications and had to use photocopies. Said Home Federal Spokeswoman Monica Wiley: "We've been inundated."

The reason for the sudden upsurge in business was no mystery: Home Federal was offering 30-year mortgages at a fixed interest rate of 9 3/4%. It is one of many banks and lending institutions across the U.S. that are giving out single-digit fixed-rate mortgages for...

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