Mortgage Rate Freeze Reached

Mortgage Rate Freeze Reached
Thursday December 6, 1:40 pm ET
By Martin Crutsinger, AP Economics Writer 
Deal Reached With Mortgage Industry for 5-Year Rate Freeze

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush announced on Thursday a plan to freeze interest rates for five years for hundreds of thousands of strapped homeowners whose mortgages are scheduled to rise in the coming months.
"The steps I outlined today are a sensible response to a serious challenge," Bush said.

Seeking to counter criticism he is violating his free-market principles, Bush said the private-sector plan does not represent the imposition of a government solution to the mortgage crisis.

"We should not bail out lenders, real estate speculators or those who made the reckless decision to buy a home they knew they could not afford," he said.