Mortgage rates have fallen to their lowest levels since the peak of the real estate boom in 2004. Also, mortgage refinance activity jumped for the week ended Jan. 18. This suggests that beaten-up homeowners might be prepared to apply for new mortgages in order to avoid resets from adjustable rates. Lower rates mean lower monthly payments - and that provides more spending money. Yippee!! Of course getting those loans might not be so easy, certainly compared with a few years back; Henry Savage, president of PMC Mortgage Corp., tells Bloomberg that the stricter rules mean a return to standards that were typical in 2001.

Jay Vogel, a loan officer with Residential Mortgage Services Inc. in Nashua, New Hampshire, said he's gotten 16 mortgages approved in the last 14 days, most of them refinances, a pace he hasn't seen since January 2006. ``December was my worst month ever, and January so far has been my second-best,'' said Vogel, 40, who has been in the mortgage business for seven years.

Also worth noting: The stock prices of L.A.'s two major homebuilders, KB and Ryland, are way up this morning. (LABJ)