Earl Hines
Rates are at 37-year Lows
Though new home buyers will find applying for a loan much more difficult than in recent years, existing home owners with good credit and documented income histories may qualify for a new refinanced mortgage at considerably lower rates. Rates have tumbled over recent weeks, and homeowners have noticed.
The Mortgage Bankers Association reported last week that its overall Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, shot up 48 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis, driven by a whopping 63 percent leap in its Refinance Index. The Federal Reserve again cut it’s Target Fed Funds Rate (now at nearly 0 percent) and announced it would buy more mortgage-backed securities issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The Fed’s cuts tend to lower mortgage rates for conventional home loans, and Freddie Mac’s survey of mortgage rates showed more than a quarter-point drop to the lowest level in the 37-year history of the survey. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage fell from 5.47 percent last week to 5.19 percent. 15-year fixed rates are even lower.
When calculating the cost-benefit of a mortgage refinance, be sure to get clarity from your bank on all points and fees that are required. Then based on your lowered payments, calculate when the break-even is on this refinance. As an example, if the total cost of refinancing is going to be $5,000, but your annual payments are reduced by $2,000 per year - it will take you 2.5 years to break-even on this refinance. In other words, if you are not planning to keep the home for 2.5 years or longer, this refinance may not make financial sense.
Given the relative “cheapness” of money these days, and the turmoil we’ve seen in bond and stock markets, reducing the cost of your debt can be an effective way to increase your cash flow and net worth — even during recessions. So, if you have been thinking of re-financing a higher rate mortgage or consolidating that equity line of credit into a fixed rate, now is likely the right time. Just get the facts and shop around first.
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