There are many great St. Cloud area homes for sale. Click here to perform a full home search, or if you're thinking of selling your home, click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation
so you know what buyers will pay for your home in today's market. You
may also call me at (320) 240-3363 for a FREE home buying or selling
consultation to answer any of your real estate questions.
Welcome back to another St. Cloud real estate update!
Recently, people have been asking about where mortgage interest rates are heading. What
kind of an impact will they have if they rise soon? As you probably
know, the federal government has been buying mortgage-backed bonds at a
high rate over the last few years, which has kept rates very low.
However, the Fed has recently announced plans to phase out their buying
program, which will result in the rise of the artificially low interest rates we've been enjoying over the past few years.
According to a recent article in the Kiplinger Letter, 30-year fixed-rate mortgages may rise to as high as 5.5% as early as next spring. The
good news, however, is that 5.5% is not a bad rate. In fact, it's a
historically good rate, seeing that the average over the last 30 years
is over 8%.
Although only a modest rise is expected, you can save yourself thousands of dollars by
taking advantage of our current rates. For example: If you were to
borrow $200,000 today at 4.25%, the monthly payment will be about $980 a
month, which is pretty close to the price of renting in today's market.
If rates jump to 5.5%, your monthly payment would rise to about $1,135 -
not a huge amount, but it could cost you tens of thousands of dollars
if you plan on staying in the home for an extended period of time.
If you're entertaining the idea of moving, but are unsure whether now is the time to take the leap, we recommend taking a hard look at the numbers. If you want more home for your money, now is the time to find a wonderful home and lock in a low rate.
If
you have any questions about mortgages, or real estate in general, we
would love to hear from you. Give us a call or shoot us an email for the
expert service you deserve!
