mortgage rates down
At of the end of last week, the average long-term mortgage rate in the United States lowered slightly, maintaining low rates.
According to mortgage giant Freddie Mac, the rate of 30-year mortgages in the US dropped down to 3.85% from 3.86% the week before. 15-year mortgages dropped as well from 3.08% to 3.07%.
This is the tenth week in a row that mortgage rates have been below 4%.
Usually, low mortgage rates would be enticing homebuyers to take advantage of them and buy homes now. However, there have been problems in the global economy and with the US stock market, so the number of new contracts signed in August actually dropped. Overall in the past twelve months, however, number of new contracts for home sales increased 6.1%, pushed by a healthy economy and job growth.
On September 17, the Federal Reserve announced it would keep interest rates low. A decision to raise rates could also mean increased home loans.
Last Monday, the National Association of Realtors showed August data that indicated that home sales lack the stamina to continue to accelerating because of uncertainty in the financial markets along with rising prices of homes. Many potential buyers are having trouble finding the affordability in homes that existed earlier this year.
According to experts polled by Bankrate.com last week, rates should remain steady over the short term. 56% of those polled believed they would. 22% predicted an increase, and 22% a decline.
While buyer confidence may be declining a bit, this is still a great time to cash in on such low mortgage rates. An interest rate hike is still very probable to come from the Fed sometime in the next few months, so it would be a smart move to buy a home sooner rather than later.
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