Incentives for homebuyers from bank

Fifth Third Mortgage Company recently announced it will offer homebuyers an interest rate reduction for their loan, available only for new fixed rate purchase mortgages, that expires at the end of August, 20111.

The customer can choose either a 1 percent interest rate reduction for the first year of the mortgage or a 0.125 percent interest rate reduction for the life of the loan. And for customers with a monthly mortgage payment automatically withdrawn from a Fifth Third Bank account, an additional 0.5 percent discount point savings is available.

Bob Lewis, president of Fifth Third Mortgage Company, said, "We believe it's important to give customers options-letting them choose which incentive works best for their needs and their lifestyles."

A market that is recovering without the help of such incentives is the Washington, D.C., metro area, where, according to the Clear Capital Home Data Index, average real estate prices increased 4.4 percent in 2011 thus far. The survey predicts the prices will increase another 2.8 percent by the end of the year.

According to the Clear Capital survey, home prices in Washington, D.C., dropped 42 percent in value from the peak to the bottom of the market.

Alex Villacorta, Clear Capital's spokesman, told the news source, "It just speaks to how deep in the hole we are that one of the best marketes out there, with all the price growth it's seen, is still below peak value." 

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