BUYERS NEED TO GET OFF THE FENCE--from Bank of America
Hope your Christmas was Merry. As you can imagine things have been pretty slow this week but rates have ticked up about a quarter. We often see very conservative pricing over the holidays, lenders do this to hedge against a drastic change in the market over long weekends. I don't think we've seen the last of the great rates but our time may be running short. The treasury will begin to taper off its mortgage backed securities purchase program during the first quarter and this will have a negative impact on rates. Will we see astronomical rates, I doubt it, but I do think we'll be heading back to the 6-7% range.
Now is the time for any rate sensitive buyers that are still 'fence sitting' to make their move. Let's also get those first time homebuyers under contract, remember the tax credit was extended to cover contracts through April 1, 2010 with closings through June 1, 2010. We've still got USDA loans to 100% of the purchase price with no mortgage insurance.
Today's base rates are as follows:
Conforming (</=$417,000)
30 year fixed 5.250%
15 year fixed 4.625%
5/1 ARM 4.125%
Jumbo (>$417,000)
30 year fixed 5.750%
5/1 ARM 5.000%
FHA (Primary residence only, up to 96.5% financing)
30 year fixed 5.250%
5/1 ARM 4.125%
USDA Rural Development Guarantee Loans (Primary residence, first time homebuyers only, up to 100% financing, income restrictions apply)
30 year fixed 5.250%