Mortgage Interest Rates Fall Slightly
Mortgage interest rates have fallen slightly , reaching 6.47 percent for a 30-year fixed mortgage loan. Even though this is down from recent weeks, I’m still glad that I bought my home last year, for a fixed rate of 6.02 percent.
With the housing market slow, and mortgage lenders having a hard time drawing business, you might think that interest rates would be dropping as lure. However, that’s not how it has been working. Businessweek reports on why mortgage interest rates have remained above 6 percent:
The 30-year mortgage has been above 6 percent since late May as financial markets have become convinced that rising inflation pressures will keep the Federal Reserve from cutting interest rates further even though the economy remains mired in a period of significant weakness.
Local mortgage markets
Interestingly, I found, my own mortgage interest rate was still low for the time — even a year ago. According to Businessweek, the interest rate on a 30-year fixed loan this time last year was 6.52 percent. Apparently, mortgage interest rates have fallen a bit overall since last year.
And, apparently I got a real steal.
This also underlines the difference in mortgage markets. While there is a national mortgage rate trend that does affect how much you pay locally for your home mortgage loan, it is worth noting that there are other factors that go into it as well — local market is a big one.
My mortgage interest rate came as a result of shopping around. At the time, locally, many of the mortgage lenders were competing for business. On top of that, the housing market was doing pretty well. So, as I talked to different loan officers, all of them were interested in trying to convince me to do my mortgage through them. Offering a lower mortgage interest rate was part of the deal.
No matter what the national mortgage interest rate trend is, there is no substitute for shopping around locally to try and get the best possible deal on your home mortgage loan.
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