Sacramento Real Estate Views

Mortgage Interest Rates on the Rise

Rates Increase Over the Holidays – Merry Freakin Christmas!

Santa left a little unintended coal in our collective mortgage stockings this holiday season in the form of increased mortgage interest rates.

While the increase isn’t all that much honestly, I believe this will be a sign that could point to higher interest rates in the future.  Our low “candy cane” rates may be coming to an end sooner than later.

Rates as of this posting, according to MortgageDailyNews.com, are at 5.2% for a 30 year fixed rate mortgage, down from 5.33% last week.  Certainly higher than the 4.75% averages we were seeing prior to the holidays.

Here’s the kicker with the current rates;

To qualify for the current rate at between 5% and 5.25% you’ve got to have credit scores at or above 740.

That’s the news that usually left out of most lender advertising which would be kind of nice to know upfront, wouldn’t you say?

From FreddieMac.com

The following commentary is the most recent from Frank Nothaft, VP of this and that @ FreddieMac.com:

1)  Although rates have gone up, we’re still in one of the most affordable housing markets in history.

2)  At today’s rates compared to the rates in 2000, you’ll pay 1/3 less for your mortgage than you did in 2000.

3)  The housing market is improving nationally.

4)  Housing prices have gone up for the 5th straight month.  11 cities have experienced “positive growth”.

See the context of Frank the VP’s notes here.

That’s the official word from the “suits”, and what follows is a quote from one of our trusted local lending resources.

Local Lender Quotes

My goal for 2010, at least one of them, is to include several more lenders to this weekly article.  Wish me luck!

Pat Murphy, Guild Mortgage, (916) 212-9451, email pat@patmurphyloans.com

“The 30 yr fixed conventional rate has creeped up to 5.25% this week.  It is hard to say whether this is a function of a perceived economic improvement or just because it’s the end of the month.

But the good news is that the Fed rate (the rate banks pay to borrow from the Federal Reserve) continues to remain low, and is expected to remain there until at least late this spring!  So, while the rate is creeping, it is still a GREAT rate historically!

I am happy to answer your questions.  Call me any time to ask about anything related to the market or loans 916-212-9451 or email pat@patmurphyloans.com.”

Thanks for visiting!

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Tags: mortgage rates sacramento

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 3rd, 2010 at 9:08 am and is filed under Mortgage Information. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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