Get Mortgage Rates at 3%
Freddie Mac reported drop in 20 year fixed mortgage for the 10th
consecutive week to a new low of 5.01%. This is the lowest rate
reported since Freddie Mac started to report average rates in 1971.
Mortgage
rates pushed sharply down as The Federal Reserve purchased mortgage
backed securities in its goal of lowering mortgage rates. Success has
been slightly reported thus far and the traditional rate difference
between 10 year treasury and the 30 year fixed rates is gone, as 10
year Treasury bond did not move to new lows.
If the yields on 30 year fixed and 10 year treasury are re-established with we may see mortgage rates at 3.0%.
Another
round of $350 billion of TARP money is expected to be released during
first week of Obama's presidency. This time it will be more controlled
than previous amounts under Bush's administration. TARTP money was used
to help banks to start lending again, however; no set rules were given
to any bank which resulted in banks buying other banks and not lending
to consumers.
If new round of financing is released, it can
help overall real estate economy to gain some ground and 10 year
Treasury bond should re-establish itself and lower mortgage rates even
further.
Darker side of very low interest rates is that it
may take a longer time for US economy to grow again. This however; will
spread out a huge refinance time again, in most cases bigger than ever
before, however; real estate growth will slow down.
In today's
market we can clearly see that many jobs are offered at low hourly
salaries as many applicants are competing. What used to be $15/hour job
may turn out to be in low $10/hour job. Employers see this as
opportunity to lay off current workers and hire new workers for less
hourly pay.
To grow back to $15/hour will take some time; even years and employer will prosper during this time.
There
is "no crystal ball" to see where rates might be headed, with hopes
that congress will take control of economy and stabilize market.
Finding
out if refinancing is the right move can be as simple task. With an
easy calculation you can calculate your monthly savings and compare it
to refinancing fee. Many people are waiting as public believes that
rates might drop even further. But can you wait?
People are
very rate-curious as a huge demand in refinancing is already under way.
With a current mortgage rate of close to 5.875% for 30 year fixed
mortgage, mortgage refinance will bring a huge savings.
Even if
rates drop to low 3%, you can always refinance again as it will make
sense for almost for anyone to refinance and save on fees as well.
One
of the biggest challenges that many homeowners are facing are low real
estate values. With prediction of 20 percent decline in 2009, many
borrowers will again miss a great refinance opportunity if they keep
waiting for the next best rate.
If you have a very little equity
and keep waiting until rates will go even lower, your property value
may depreciate even further. On the other hand, if you have plenty of
equity, you can take your time to see how markets will perform in next
few months.
Current mortgage rates may not come back for a long time.