Archive for Mortgage Rates
30-Year Mortgage Rates Make New Lows, But Look Ready To Spike
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No doubt you’ve heard that mortgage rates are low. They’re lower than they’ve ever been in history. The news is everywhere.
Just check out some of these headlines from the last 24 hours:
- Mortgage rates set new lows for the 6th straight week (Reuters)
- Mortgage rates fall again; 30-year fixed at 4.54% (Wall Street Journal)
- Mortgage rates hit another low : 4.54% (NPR)
Fixed mortgage rates are now down more than 1/2 percent from the start of the year, and 3/4 percent from just 1 year ago. The drop has dramatically improved home affordability for home buyers in San Jose while creating refinance opportunities for existing homeowners.
From a payment perspective, a conforming, 30-year fixed rate mortgage is now cheaper by $41.94 per month per $100,000 borrowed versus July 2009.
A homeowner with a $300,000 mortgage, therefore, is saving $45,295.20 over 30 years.
Low mortgage rates rarely last long and rates appear to have troughed. After a big downhill between April and July, they’re now flat. This could mean rates have finished falling, or that they’re gearing up for another drop lower. Either way, if you haven’t talked to your real estate agent about home affordability, or your loan officer about refinancing, it may be time to make that call.
If today’s market marks the end of low rates, rates are expected to rise quickly.
Mandatory Loan Fees Keep Borrowers From Getting Their Absolute Lowest Rate
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Conforming mortgage rates may be posting all-time lows this week, but that doesn’t mean you’ll be eligible for them. You may have already called your loan officer and found this out the hard way.
It’s because of a federally-mandated mortgage-pricing scheme known as “loan-level pricing adjustments”.
In effect since April 2009, loan-level pricing adjustments are changes to a loan’s base rate and/or fee structure based on that loan’s inherent risk to Wall Street. It’s similar to auto insurance pricing adjustment in that a sports car, all things equal, will cost more to insure than a comparably-priced minivan.
More risk, more cost.
In mortgage lending, loan risk can be loosely grouped into 5 categories. Mortgage applications in San Jose featuring any of the five traits are subject to price adjustments:
- Credit Score (i.e. the borrower’s FICO is below 740)
- Property Type (i.e. the subject property is a multi-unit home)
- Occupancy (i.e. the subject property is an investment home)
- Structure (i.e. there is a subordinate/junior lien on title)
- Equity (i.e. mortgage insurance is required by the lender)
Furthermore, loan-level pricing adjustments are cumulative.
A 3-unit investment home will face larger adjustments than an owner-occupied 3-unit home, for example. It’s these adjustments that explain why you may not be eligible for the rates you see advertised online and in the newspapers — your particular loan may be subject to this risk-based pricing that raises your mortgage rate and closing costs.
The government’s loan-level pricing adjustment schedule is public information. See what your lender and how your loan quote is made at the Fannie Mae website. Or, if you find the charts confusing, just call or email your loan officer for help with interpretation.
The 1 Force That Can Really Change A Mortgage Rate
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All day, every day, conforming and FHA mortgage rates in San Francisco Bay Area are in flux. Rates move in response to hundreds of factors which exact varying levels of influence.
Among the biggest influences on mortgage rates is inflation. When inflation is unexpectedly high, mortgage rates tend to rise quickly. Conversely, when inflation is unexpectedly low, rates tend to fall quickly.
But what is inflation?
By definition, inflation is when a currency loses its value; when what used to cost $1.00 now costs $1.10.
As consumers, we recognize inflation by the items we buy on a daily basis becoming more expensive. However, it’s not that goods are more expensive — it’s that the dollars we’re using to buy them have become worth less.
With respect to mortgage rates, this is a big deal because mortgage rates are directly related to the price of a special type of bond called a mortgage-backed bond.
On Wall Street, mortgage-backed bonds are priced, bought, and sold in U.S. dollars so as inflation renders those dollars less valuable, so it does to mortgage-backed bonds as well. It’s a chain reaction by which mortgage bonds lose value, leading investors sell them, causing bond prices to fall on the excess supply.
And, because mortgage rates move opposite of bond prices, as inflation takes hold, mortgage rates rise.
Lately, inflation has been exceptionally low. The Federal Reserve acknowledged as much in its last statement to the markets, and available data backs that position. This, after predictions that inflation would be “runaway” in 2010.
The Cost of Living is up just modestly this year and it’s helping mortgage rates stay low. And, so long as it lasts, the cost of owning a home in Midtown Palo Alto will remain relatively inexpensive.
Conforming Loan Costs Are Rising, Says Freddie Mac
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Mortgage rates may be dropping, but mortgage costs are not.
According to Freddie Mac, the average required discount points on a conforming mortgage rate are higher by 0.1 percent since early-May.
A “discount point” is prepaid mortgage interest; an up-front fee paid by a borrower in exchange for a lower mortgage rate. In most cases, discount points are tax-deductible.
Tax-deductible or not, though, rising costs are rising costs and Freddie Mac glosses over it. In its weekly press release, the government group offers mortgage rate comparisons to weeks prior, but doesn’t do the same for required points.
The press fails to mention discount points entirely.
An increase of 1/10 percent in discount points costs homebuyers and refinancing households in San Jose an extra $100 per $100,000 borrowed.
The hike reminds us that there’s more to a mortgage than just its rate — costs matter, too. And if you’ve only been watching the headlines, you would have missed how costs are rising.
Should You Refinance Your Mortgage?
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Because of strife in Greece, Spain and North Korea, conforming mortgage rates are back to all-time lows. They’re at levels not seen in 50 years. For homeowners that missed the Refi Boom of November 2009, it’s a second chance.
In this well-presented, 3-minute video from NBC’s The Today Show, you’ll get tips getting low rates and choosing the best time to lock in.
Some of the topics covered include:
- Why were the experts wrong about rates moving higher this summer?
- How much money can you save with a 1 point drop in your interest rate?
- Should you buy a bigger home now that rates have fallen?
The advice in the piece is matter-of-fact and centered. There is no cheerleading and the message is honest. Mortgage rates are low and they likely won’t stay that way. If you’ve been thinking about a refinance, talk to your loan officer as soon as possible.
Palo Alto Mom of three, FHA loan officer
