Interest rates are beginning to creep upwards from the historical lows we enjoyed in 2012. Does that make you feel like you may have missed the big savings opportunity?
Experts say you shouldn’t worry just yet, but take action sooner rather than later. Yes – rates are moving up, but at this point that movement is slow. New purchase and refinancing rates are still very attractive, helping make the all-in cost of home ownership very affordable. How long the situation will last, though, is up for debate. Take too long, and you really might live with some long term mortgage rate regret.
You’ll find data and expert commentary supporting this position in Karen Weise’s Business Week article titled, “How high will interest rates go?”, published on 2/1/2013.
I sent the Business Week article link to one of our trusted mortgage bankers, Hunter Marckwardt, Vice President at RPM Mortgage Inc (“RPM”), and asked him to weigh in on the discussion, particularly since the $300,000 mortgage example used in the article is far below the typical jumbo mortgages local home buyers in our area typically require.
Marckwardt agreed with the basic conclusions of the article, saying he also expects interest rates to continue to creep upward during 2013.
“As more positive economic data continues to surface it pushes money out of the bond market and into the stock market, which then takes interest rates higher,” said Marckwardt.
There are, though, important factors at work that can impact both the interest rate outlook and the overall attractiveness of the jumbo mortgage market.
“There are points of interest around both the European debt issues as well as employment numbers here in the US that could continue to keep interest rates stable,” explained Marckwardt. “If we have a counter balance of information, I believe interest rates will move slowly through the year. If we have more positive news with little negative news, rates will move higher more rapidly. Bottom line, for people looking to take advantage of low interest rates for refinances, the time is sooner than later. For the purchase market, rates are still incredibly attractive and the jumbo lending environment is coming back into play full force, so although interest rates are sliding higher, the more competitive jumbo environment among lenders is bridging that gap and keeping the rates relatively neutral for the time being.”