Going, going, going up!

If you been waiting for mortgage rates to hit bottom and have been holding off from purchasing that great home you been dreaming about, or refinancing your current mortgage, THE TRAIN HAS LEFT THE STATION!

In the past two weeks, interest rates have been on the move. They have inched up almost .5%.

Chris and I just sold a property to a couple that are getting a VA loan. When we started the offer process, the rate quoted to them was 4.25%. By the time negotiations were done, the rate had gone up to 4.75%.

We are all guilty of trying to time the market or think that if I wait the rates or prices will go even lower. That is human nature. However, as I have stated in several of my posts, timing a market or trying to guess if rates will go even lower, even though we were at all time lows, is basically impossible. One has to look at the big picture and history. At all time low levels, there is a higher probability of rates shooting upward than to keep going down. Also, think about this, if you buy a home today, in general, you are purchasing the home at a 40% to 50% discount off the highs in 2006.

Another trend that we have seen from the rates going higher is sales. When buyers of homes are siting on the fence thinking rates will go lower and all of a sudden they shoot up, buyers panic and they jump right into that purchase. So we have seen a flurry of sales activity in our local market as a result.

The moral of the story, look at the big picture and weigh the risk. But ultimately, history repeats itself. Buy a home or refinance your mortgage now before rates and prices go higher.

I know this goes against everything you are reading in the media. However, we are the ones in the front lines and are the first to see the trends, well ahead of our doom and gloom friends in the media.

Drop me a line and give me your thoughts.
Jose

Tagged as: housing market, Interest Rates, market update, mortgage rates