. >> announcer: from the global we sources of abc news, wither the roy moran, cynthia mcfadden and bill weir in new york city, this is "nightline," august 17th, 2010. >> good evening. we begin with further evidence of a soft economy. home loan raments set new lows this month. the average 30-year mortgage rate fell to 4.44%. the lowest since freddie mac records began in 1971. no time like the present to refinance your home? right? not so fast. even people with great credit are having a hard time securing a loan. are having a hard time securing a loan. vicki mabrey looks at what you need to know to score a loan in tonight's "realty check." >> reporter: when brian and suzanne were shopping for their first home, they thought they'd be a lock for a mortgage. they were shocked when they were denied. >> you know, we've been working for four years of our marriage towards getting our first new home and when we finally were ready to do that, and we went for the mortgage and we were totally denied it was just heartbreaking. >> i thought it was going to be easy. lease cars, purchased cars, i have a