Have you refinanced?

 

As we all know, staying at home has changed much of what we do and how we act as consumers on a daily basis.  Most of the world is holding their breath to see what the long-term affects will be.  One market that we know is extremely hot right now is the US housing market.  But there is a shortage in many areas of new or existing homes on the market.  Yesterday’s market movement was influenced by housing starts (+4.5%) and building permits (+5.8%) reported in December.  In my own neighborhood, if a house goes on the market, it sells within three weeks.  To buy a home most of us need a mortgage. 

 If you have not done so, now is the time to refinance a higher rate mortgage.  Many homeowners are taking cash out for repairs or upgrades to their existing homes, taking advantage of the lower rates.  There is quite a debate as to whether sitting on equity is the wisest choice or to take advantage of paying a mortgage with very little interest is the way to go.  The mortgage industry is one in which there are rise-and-fall cycles.  However, current rates are expected to continue throughout 2021 with slight increases throughout the year.  Freddie Mac saw the 30-year and 15-year rates both move -2 basis points to 2.77 % and 2.21%, respectively.  According to Black Knight (an industry leader in mortgage technology, data, and analytics), there are still 16.7 million refinance candidates who meet broad-based eligibility criteria and could also cut their first mortgage rate by 0.75 % or more.  Have you been putting off refinancing your own home?  Now is the time.