Mortgage rates: Are published rates accurate?

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Good morning. A question this morning: Are the mortgage rates published in newspapers and on websites accurate? That is, are they available to real borrowers, or or they just guidelines, or worse, marketing come-ons? We ask in light of intriguing comments last week by Orange County Rep. Loretta Sanchez. Here’s what she told Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke at a congressional hearing:

‘I just was out to purchase a home in the last 10 days, and I have an 800-plus credit score. I have no debt, basically, I have a lot of assets, and I went to the one institution where I carry a small loan with them, home loan, and they quoted me a price 100 basis points over what’s quoted in -- what we’re talking about as far as rates in the paper, in the newspapers.’ (emphasis mine)

Sanchez told the Orange County Register she was quoted ‘an 8 percent rate’ on a loan of roughly $500,000, with good credit and 20% down. Her point was that the credit crunch is alive and well.

So we’ll repeat the question: Are published mortgage rates relevant to what’s happening in the real world? And if they are not, is there a good resource for finding real-world mortgage rate quotes? As always, comments, thoughts, insights and bloviations are welcome.
Hat tip: Lansner on Real Estate
Photo Credit: Reuters