15-Year Mortgage Rates Dive to Lowest on Record

15-Year Mortgage Rates Dive to Lowest on Record

The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage, often the top choice of home refinancers, reached a new all-time record low of 3.11 percent this week, Freddie Mac reports in this week’s mortgage market survey. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage also sank lower this week, hovering near it’s all-time low.

“Fixed mortgage rates eased for the third consecutive week following long-term Treasury bond yields lower after a weaker than expected employment report for March,” Freddie Mac’s Chief Economist Frank Nothaft says.

Here’s how rates fared for the week ending April 12:

• 30-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 3.88 percent, with an average 0.7 point, down slightly from last week’s 3.98 percent average. A year ago at this time, 30-year rates averaged 4.91 percent.
• 15-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged a new record low of 3.11 percent, with an average 0.7 point, dropping from last week’s 3.21 percent average. The 15-year mortgage rate’s previous record low was 3.13 percent, which was set on March 8 of this year. Last year at this time, 15-year rates averaged 4.13 percent.
• 5-year adjustable-rate mortgages: averaged 2.85 percent this week, with an average 0.7 point, also falling from last week, in which it averaged 2.86 percent. Last year at this time, 5-year ARMs averaged 3.78 percent.
• 1-year ARMs: averaged 2.80 percent this week, with an average 0.6 point, rising from last week’s 2.78 percent average. A year ago, 1-year ARMs averaged 3.25 percent.

Source: Freddie Mac

What to Do When a Home Lingers on the Market.

What to Do When a Home Lingers on the Market

While the supply of homes has decreased from a 8.6-month supply to a 6.4-month supply in the last year, some home owners are still seeing their home linger on the market. 

When you can’t get a serious bite from a buyer, here are three interventions you might need to have with your clients.

Re-evaluate the price of the home.

“In an overcrowded housing market, overpriced homes won’t get any showings,” Norman Block, a real estate agent in the Raleigh-Durham area of North Carolina, told Reuters News. For buyers who want to sell quickly, pricing the home lower than the market may help.

Make home improvements.

Sellers don’t have to spend a fortune on improvements, but maybe there’s a reason why buyers keep overlooking their home and items need to be addressed. Maybe some aesthetic finishes will help freshen up the home in buyers’ eyes, such as a fresh coat of paint, decluttering, new hardware on the front door, and tending to the yard.

“If everything is caulked up, and everything is sparkling and shining, the subconscious feeling is ‘wow this house has been taken care of,'” Block says.

Consider a rental situation of the home in question.
For homes that just won’t sell, home owners might consider renting out the property or entering into a rent-to-buy option. Some home owners have opted to turn their home into a short-term rental if they need help paying their mortgage right away, or some real estate agents have helped arrange a rent-to-buy option.

Source: “What if You Can’t Sell Your Home?” Reuters (April 9, 2012)

Buyer Urgency Improves, More See Now Good Time to Buy

Buyer Urgency Improves, More See Now Good Time to Buy

More home buyers may jump off the sidelines this spring as they get more urgent about purchasing a home, fearing that home price and mortgage rate increases are on the horizon.

Housing surveys in recent weeks have shown that more Americans are seeing now a great time to purchase a home. In the most recent survey, 73 percent of Americans say now is a good time to buy, according to the latest Fannie Mae Housing Survey conducted in March. That’s up from 70 percent in February who said it was a great time to buy.

“Conditions are coming together to encourage people to want to buy homes,” says Doug Duncan, Fannie Mae’s chief economist. “With an increasing share of consumers expecting higher mortgage rates and home prices over the next 12 months, some may feel that renting is becoming more costly and that home ownership is a more compelling housing choice.”

Indeed, more buyer urgency is evident in the market. Thirty-three percent of those surveyed by Fannie say they expect home prices soon to increase, which is the highest percentage in a year. What’s more, nearly 40 percent say they expect mortgage rates to rise in the next year too, which is also up from previous surveys.

Coupled with that, 48 percent of Americans say they expect rents to continue to climb, and 44 percent say they expect their financial situation to improve in the next year.

Source: “More Americans Think It’s Time to Buy a Home,” MSN Real Estate (April 9, 2012)