NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. 30-year fixed home loan rates on Wednesday slid by as much as 3/8 percentage point to about 5 percent, nearing record lows, after the Federal Reserve more than doubled its planned purchases of mortgage-related securities.

Home purchases have been lagging refinancing even as rates and falling prices make ownership more affordable.

While homeowners are often compelled to cut current costs, worries about job loss or hopes that prices will slump more keep many potential buyers at bay.

The mortgage market is already overwhelmed with business, especially after consolidation and layoffs slashed staffing levels, he said. In the past, lenders have kept rates higher than they otherwise would just to slow the frantic pace.

The Obama administration provided details on Wednesday for its program to help homeowners at risk of losing their houses obtain taxpayer-subsidized reductions in their mortgage payments, a program that becomes available immediately.

Administration officials said the program could help three million to four million families avoid foreclosure, and it is expected to cost $75 billion over the next several years.

In theory, there is no limit on the so-called loan-to-value ratio for a modified mortgage. In other words, people are eligible for help even if the value of their house is far less than the outstanding amount of the mortgage, as is the case for about 14 million people who bought houses at the very peak of the market and often put no money down. Administration officials have said, however, that people who owe more than 150 percent of the current market value of their homes will probably have a harder time persuading their lenders to modify the mortgage.

Just the knowledge that the Federal Reserve was getting ready to plow up to $1 trillion in cheap funding into the asset-backed securitization market has driven down spreads on these pooled credit-card and auto loans, a sign that investors are ready to buy into the central bank’s latest liquidity program.

Spreads on 3-year credit-card securitizations have fallen to about 400 basis points from 650 basis points over swap rates at the end of last year, according to Barclays Capital. Spreads on 3-year prime fixed auto loans have fallen to about 350 from 600 at year’s end and 850 at the end of November.