Home affordability is at an all-time high as the value of housing drops to the point where a lot of people can afford home ownership.  According to USA Today, average mortgage rates for 15- and 30-year loans fell to their lowest rates in three weeks,

The 15-year mortgage, a popular option for refinancing, declined to 3.04%. That’s down from last week’s previous record of 3.05%.

Rates on 30-year loans have been below 4% since early December. But so far, those cheap rates haven’t been enough to ignite home sales.

While all of this is great news, the challenge remains being able to qualify for these wonderful loans!

Interest rates remain extremely affordable which is great news for buyers as the the housing market crawls into recovery mode. From MSNBC.com,

Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday that the rate on the 30-year loan dropped to 3.88 percent this week, down from 3.9 percent. In February, the rate hit 3.87 percent, the lowest since long-term mortgages began in the 1950s.

The 30-year loan is the most common financing option for home buyers.

I know more and more people who are finally in the market to buy and are sure fortunate that they are getting these kinds of interest rates!

After remaining fairly steady (and low), mortgage rates increased this past week to 4.08 percent, the highest rate in nearly six months.

According to CNN Money,

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, a popular choice for most homebuyers, hit 4.08%, according to Freddie Mac’s weekly survey. That’s 0.16 percentage points higher than a week earlier and its first time over the 4% mark since October. The average rate for a 15-year loan also climbed, to 3.30% from 3.16% last week.

A friend of mine whose credit is sterling – no bumps or hiccups anywhere – is buying a new house at this time. Even with hungry lenders and a highly qualified buyer, she is struggling to get all her paperwork turned in that  is now required. It’s slow, but recovery will come.

Mortgage rates are on the rise, according to Zillow.com.  Last week rates quoted came in at 3.74 percent and this week they rose to 3.97 percent.

This signifies the highest rate recorded on Zillow Mortgage Marketplace in the last five months. The 30-year fixed mortgage rate steadily rose for the majority of the week, dropping to 3.9 percent on Monday. The rate briefly reached 4 percent late Monday night before falling to the current rate early this morning.

The increase in the mortgage rate could be a positive indicator of a stabilizing market, especially as spring and summer approaches – the busy season for real estate.

If you want to refinance your mortgage loan and you can qualify, this is a great time to do it!  Mortgage rates are approaching the lowest rates in history – the 3.94 percent average that was recorded in the 1950′s.

First, lower payments. Second, you’ll get a month “off” making that mortgage payment – at least a month off at the beginning of the loan; you’ll still pay it at the end.   From MSNBC.com,

The average rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage fell back down to 3.94 percent, the record low set earlier in the fall.

Low rates offer a historic opportunity for those who can afford to buy or refinance. Still, few people are able to take advantage of the record-low rates or have already done so.

The rate on the 30-year home loan fell from 3.99 percent the previous week, Freddie Mac said Thursday. The 3.94 percent average is the lowest on records dating to the 1950s.

These really are incredible rates, but have not done much to help the housing market.  Time will heal that gaping wound.

When my husband and I bought our first house, we had to come up with about $8,000 for a down-payment and our interest rate – with great credit – was 8 percent.  We went from renting a duplex for $325 per month to a house payment of about $750 every month.

At today’s rates, the house payment would be about $510 per month (and that includes insurance and taxes)!  Florida agent Marco Giancola also recalls the days of high interest rates when he bought his first home,

It all hit me about a month later as I wrote the check for the first mortgage payment and discovered the interest rate was 18%. This memory popped into my head as I read that Freddie Mac announced on Thursday that the mortgage rates ticked up to 4 percent from 3.99 percent on a 30 year loan. Six weeks ago, it dropped to a record low of 3.94 percent, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research.

If you can qualify for a home loan, have good job security, a good down payment (and we’ve said this before here at the Shak), NOW is the time to buy!

Buyers from across the nation are enjoying the lowest mortgage interest rates ever.  Unfortunately the 4.09 percent interest for a 30-year loan has done little to boost home sales, according to MSNBC.com.  In fact, this has been the worst year for home sales since 1997.

Many Americans are in no position to buy or refinance. High unemployment, scant wage gains and large debt loads have kept them away.

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Others can’t qualify. Banks are insisting on higher credit scores and 20 percent down payments for first-time buyers. Some homeowners have too little equity invested in their homes to meet loan requirements.

Most people must also pay extra fees to get the low mortgage rates. Those fees are known as points, with one point equaling 1 percent of the total loan amount.

If more people could refinance, it would be an economic boost for America.  However, it seems to be a waiting game for the return of consumer confidence.

According to Fannie Mae, mortgage interest rates keep dropping.

Mortgage borrowing costs continued a downward trend this past week, according to Freddie Mac, as 30-year fixed rates dipped to the lowest point of the year and 15-year fixed interest fell to an all-time low. Freddie Mac said interest on the former averaged 4.32 percent, while the latter settled at 3.5 percent. The favorable rates sent loan applications up more than 20 percent, the Mortgage Bankers Association indicated, with refinance activity climbing 30 percent.

If you can get a loan, now is a great time to buy.

Loan rates have been at historical lows for months now, but they are beginning to creep back up.  Both national and international events shape the mortgage loan climate and this is a busy week according to Michael Mertz of Sun State Home Loans,

Last week under­scores the impor­tance of the global com­mu­nity to the future of the U.S. mort­gage mar­ket. Two of the main rea­sons why mort­gage rates increased were non-domestic.

1. Con­cerns for a full-blown North Korea/South Korea con­flict less­ened quickly
2. The like­li­hood of a speedy, $85 bil­lion bailout Ire­land increased

The two events stemmed the typ­i­cal safe-haven buy­ing pat­terns that accom­pany geo-political and eco­nomic uncer­tainty, and drive down mort­gage rates.

This week, mort­gage rates may rise again.

Today the national average is 4.40 for a 30 year fixed rate mortgage loan.  True that the rate is increasing!

Mortgage rates have dropped to the lowest level they’ve been in decades, thanks to he announcement from the Federal Reserve about a massive bond-buying program.  The program is designed to spur economic growth because as the Feds buy more bonds, it will mean extra demand which will mean lower yields.  According to the AP article published on Comcast news, “Mortgage rates tend to track those yields.”

Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Tuesday the average rate for 30-year fixed loans fell to 4.17 percent from 4.24 percent last week. That’s the lowest on records dating back to 1971.

The average rate on 15-year fixed loans fell to 3.57 percent from 3.63 percent. That’s the lowest since the survey began in 1991.

Eligible buyers are sitting on the sidelines of the housing market, worried primarily about job security.  In my own household we have suffered job loss of the primary bread-winner, but when things turn around (which I am 100 percent confident they will), we plan to refinance to take advantage of these amazing rates.