Good news for the banks

Home mortgage applications are on the rise.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Applications for home mortgages jumped for a third consecutive week as plunging interest rates encouraged more homeowners to seek refinancings, an industry group said on Wednesday.

The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted index of refinancing applications surged 16.9 percent in the week ending January 18 to 4,178.2, the highest level since March 2004. The activity was up 92 percent since the beginning of November....

This is good because it means more money being injected into the lagging banking industry. With all of their dud loans, they're a bit short on cash. (Shorter than they were, anyway.)

This is also good.

Mortgage rates have declined amid signs the housing downturn and less consumer spending will push the economy into recession, cooling the growth that fuels faster inflation. The Federal Reserve on Tuesday surprised markets with a 0.75 percentage point cut in its target interest rate, citing a weakening economic outlook, less availability of credit and softening labor markets.

It's good for me because I'm in the middle of the whole mortgage and home buying process. It's tough to complain with the rates where they're at right now! I just hope all of this actually helps turn things around.