Rates on home equity products fell sharply. The average home equity line of credit- or HELOC- fell 36 basis points, to 5.48 percent. HELOC rates were expected to fall in response to the Federal Reserve's recent half-point emergency rate cut. Home equity loan rates plunged 27 basis points, to 7.85 percent.

The results of this past week's survey are skewed a bit because we've included a few different institutions because of JP Morgan Chase's acquisition of Washington Mutual. The survey looks at the Top Five "banks" and the Top Five "thrifts" in the Top 10 major markets. Because Washington Mutual is now JP Morgan Chase and is in the "bank" column, we've had to find other institutions to fill out the "thrifts" list. There is no other "thrift" as large as WaMu, so in various markets, smaller one shave been submitted.

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