St. Joseph may not be feeling as much pressure as the rest of the nation.Mortgage rates are at some all-time lows, and foreclosures are down significantly from last year. The local housing market seems to be hanging on.“Rates are very volatile,” said Dennis Lykins with Allied Home Mortgage. “On a daily basis, rates are affected by a number of things.”As of Friday, the rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage was 4 percent. Mr. Lykins said a fair gauge for future homebuyers could be www.freddie.mac.com.“Rates have never been lower than they are today, except for last Tuesday,” he said.And that’s because markets change, appraisals change and the specifics that correlate the rate itself are constantly in motion.“Things look so much better than last year,” said Bobbi Howe, a realtor with RE/MAX. “Sales are 97 percent higher than this time last year.“Buyers are realizing this is the lowest rates have been in a while. People were afraid to make bad offers. But buyers are getting really good deals on houses right now.”Homes for sale in the $120,000 range and higher are seeing a lot of activity now, according to Ms. Howe. The lower price ranges aren’t. That’s something that was opposite just earlier this year.“And Ben Bernanke (Federal Reserve System chairman) says rates are likely to stay in the lower ranges for another year or two,” she said.There are more than 8 million homeowners with mortgages issued through Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac who have loans carrying interest rates of 6 percent or more, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency.So far this year, there have been 211 foreclosures in Buchanan County, according to the Recorder of Deeds office. There were 10 in September, compared to 28 in September 2010. The total number of foreclosures in 2010 was 365, so it looks like 2011 is poised to see a lower number of people losing their homes.“People don’t realize how much money they can save by refinancing,” Ms. Howe said. “They think they’ll have to spend money to do it, but there are savings to be had. Why not?”Jennifer Hall can be reached at jennhall@newspressnow.com.