Monday, April 2, 2012

Mortgage Rates: Good News-Bad News

For homeowners who have been waiting for rates to fall even further before refinancing, it might be time to pull the trigger on a deal. Rates are moving up—and could stay higher for a while, experts say. The average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate home loan has climbed approximately 0.25%, according to Freddie Mac. 

While rates still are below where they were a year ago, some economists say they are likely to keep rising throughout 2012 and into 2013. 

That means your window of opportunity to lock in a rock-bottom rate might be closing soon. "If you're considering refinancing, there's really no point in waiting," says Frank Nothraft, the chief economist at Freddie Mac. Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae and the Mortgage Bankers Association all are projecting that rates will keep ticking higher this year and beyond. Freddie Mac and the Mortgage Bankers Association predict the average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate home loan will reach 5% next year. 

The biggest culprit in rising rates: the spike in yields on 10-year Treasury notes over the past two weeks, which rates generally track, says Mr. Nothaft. "It's a good-news, bad-news situation. The economy seems to be finally getting its legs back under it, and as a natural course interest rates are going to be back up, too," says Keith Gumbinger, vice president at mortgage-data provider HSH Associates. But if the fledgling economic recovery falters, rates could hold steady or go back down, he says. 

If you wait until the end of the year to refinance, and the average 30-year rate goes up as Freddie Mac projects—you will be paying $1,877 more per year on a $400,000 home loan than if you refinanced at rates which exist in late March, 2012.  

Source: The Wall Street Journal 

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