The Fed's rate hike on Tuesday was expected and the Fed's cautiously optimistic outlook calmed the market. As a result, 30-year fixed mortgage rates should stay steady near or just below 6 percent for a while, giving prospective homebuyers another chance to get in with a low rate. |
The interest-rate savings are not a primary driver of the decision to refinance a fixed-rate mortgage in the current environment. Now, the dominant refinance borrower is looking at the best way to consolidate debt or finance a big project such as a home improvement. And we also have borrowers who took out adjustable-rate mortgages in recent years that are scheduled to have their payment reset this year that may be looking at the option to refinance into a fixed-rate product or into another adjustable-rate mortgage. |
The onset of 2005 bodes well for the housing industry. Long-term mortgage rates are currently below six percent. |
This has been a long, sustained rise. |
We are starting to see a little bit of a slowdown in the enthusiasm for housing as an investment. |
With financial markets more optimistic that the economy is expanding nicely, mortgage rates had nowhere to go but up this week. Then, as a result of the GDP figures released today (Thursday), the market began weighing which part of GDP it feels is most dominant, growth or inflation. |