US requests for loans to acquire homes at record high - 2004-01-21
A record number of Americans filed applications for mortgages to purchase homes last week, an industry trade group said on Wednesday, as borrowing rates decreased within sight of the four-and-a-half decade lows reached in June.

The Mortgage Bankers Association said that its purchase index rose 12.5 percent to 501.6, the highest level since the group began its weekly survey in 1990, after the 30-year mortgage rate fell to 5.55 percent, the lowest since July.
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Fannie Mae fourth-quarter profit more than doubles - 2004-01-21
Fannie Mae, the biggest purchaser of U.S. mortgages, on Wednesday said its quarterly profit more than doubled as low interest rates created demand for home loans and losses on its interest rate hedges declined sharply.

But the company reiterated its outlook for slower growth in 2004, albeit still higher than the mortgage industry, and said profit margins will likely return to "more normal levels."
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