First-timers 'must look elsewhere' - 2004-03-05
First time buyers should move to cheaper areas or wait for prices to drop if they want to get on the housing ladder, leading mortgage lenders have recommended.

Record house prices and consumer debt have pushed numbers of first-time buyers to their lowest recorded level. But lenders say they are not investigating new methods to halt the falling numbers of first timers.
Read the full story at This Is Money

Long-Term Mortgage Rates Hardly Moved From Last Week's Low Levels - 2004-03-05
In Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5.59 percent, with an average 0.7 point, for the week finishing March 4, 2004, almost unchanged from last week when it averaged 5.58 percent.

The average for the 15-year FRM this week is 4.88 percent, with an average 0.7 point, almost unchanged from last week’s average of 4.89 percent. A year ago, the 15-year FRM averaged 5.01 percent
Read the full story at Realty Times