Playing Mortgage Rate Roulette

Mortgage rates are rising due to more demand for mortgage products. Even though the Federal Reserve has tried to influence the home mortgage industry by leveraging the discount points charged to lenders, it’s not a one-to-one relationship. Mortgage rates are more susceptible to supply and demand of the actual mortgage products and competition between lenders, rather than some arbitrary rate the Federal Reserve charges bank who are borrowing money. So, there really isn’t a real way to time your entrance into the home buying market by waiting for interest rates to drop. Instead, they may rise no matter what the Federal Reserve does to try to influence the markets. On the other hand, they could drop but there’s no way to tell until after the fact. So, if you want to buy a home, don’t play mortgage rate roulette. Instead, take the long-term view and realize that no matter what happens this may be an ideal time to buy a home if you have great credit.

Historically Low Mortgage Rates

If you take a look at how the mortgage rate offered by lenders has changed over the years, Bankrate.com estimated that the average 30-year fixed rate during the last 22 years was 7.99 percent. That’s because in the decades of the 80’s and 90’s rates were much higher than they are today. We only started to see less expensive rates being offered in the years in the 2000’s. So, while you may not get the best rate possible (if rates drop), historically you will probably get a better deal than many in the years past. So, if the rate inches up a small percentage, it may cost you more in the long run to finance your mortgage, but you will still pay less than if you had done it in the 80’s and 90’s.

Locking in the Rate

In fact, there is probably more likelihood that mortgage rates might increase as the economy starts to recover and demand for mortgage products increase. Of course, this may be a few years down the line, but you can always lock in your rate when you qualify for the loan. This is one way people help to take the worry out of mortgage rates increasing while they are looking for a home. Instead, they qualify for a mortgage first, lock in the rate, and buy the house in the period of time allotted by the rate lock. It makes looking for a home a little less stressful when you already know what you will be paying and for how long.