Mortgage refinance applications have risen for 2 weeks in a row fueled by a slow but steady decline in mortgage rates. Mortgage refinance activity is currently at a 3 month high. Applications for home purchase loans have risen 4 weeks in a row.
Mortgage Refinance Rates:
Mortgage refinance rates are near all time lows. Our research of wholesale lender’s shows 30 year fixed mortgage refinance rates as low as 5 percent with zero buy down points available. Refinancing into a new 15 year fixed mortgage can be done at an interest rate as low as 4.375 percent with zero buy down. If your priority is saving money for a period of 5 years or less refinance rates as low as 3.75 percent are available on a 5/1 ARM with no buy down. On a 200,000 30 year fixed mortgage at an interest rate of 5 percent the principal and interest payment is $1,073.64.
Mortgage Refinance Turn Around Times:
The turnaround time for a current home refinance is between 21 and 45 days. Purchase loans customarily take priority over refinance loans. That being said it may be a good idea to lock for a period of 45 days rather than the standard 30 day rate lock. New appraisal procedures make it tougher for brokers and banks to get the minimum appraised value needed to fund loans already in progress. As a result a higher percentage of refinance loans are dying after the initial DU or DO Fannie Mae approval. Brokers have the ability to place a borrower with a new lender in order to get an appraisal, declined at one bank, approved and ultimately the mortgage refinance loan funded. In situations that involve multiple lenders refinancing can take months.
The Future of Mortgage Refinance:
The future of mortgage refinance is bleak. It’s likely if and when mortgage rates rise home refinancing activity will halt. Many homeowners in the past 2 years have taken advantage of long lasting low rates refinancing to 30 year fixed mortgages with the intent to stay in their loan for many years. Most of whom have not refinanced already do not qualify because they don’t have enough equity in their home to be approved.