Even though rates are on the rise, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t refinance.
Practically everyone has refinanced or thought about it at one point in time. We’ve seen the dozens of commercials that urge us to do it. With rates at record lows over the past few years, refinancing has helped many borrowers lower their monthly payments.
But rates are now on the rise. Refinancing applications have fallen slightly. Most people don’t think you should refinance when rates are going up. However, many refinancings are “cash-out” refinancing. That means that equity is handed over to the homeowner in return for a larger mortgage. Many people need that cash.
Some people are refinancing their homes for a “cash-out” because they have a significant home-equity line of credit balance. This line of credit has an adjustable-interest rate, which is going up on them. They refinance it in with their first mortgage at a fixed rate. They aren’t eliminating the debt, just fixing the interest rate and monthly payment. If you don’t need the revolving line of credit, you should probably take advantage of the fixed rate.
There are many homeowners that piggyback their mortgages when they are buying. They end up with one mortgage for 80% of the value of the home and a second mortgage for 10%. They put the remaining 10% down on the home. Since the first mortgage is only for 80% of the purchase price, they avoid having to pay PMI.
Many piggybackers have a line of credit as the second loan. Others simply want to consolidate into one loan that would be easier to keep track of. Either way, refinancing into a fixed-rate isn’t a bad idea. And one payment is easier to make on time each month than two.
Those out there with adjustable-rate mortgages are starting to get a little nervous. Interest rates have been rising pretty fast. The gap between the rate of a adjustable mortgage and a fixed mortgage has narrowed so much that you really don’t save much by taking the adjustable mortgage. Many are looking to avoid rising interest rates by financing to fixed-rate mortgages.
Refinancing can be a good thing. You can get a fixed rate to counter the rising interest rates. You can use cash from a refinancing to consolidate your debt. You can improve your home. But you should be careful about taking too much equity out of your home.
Many advisors warn consumers not to use their homes as personal piggy banks. If home prices decline, you could owe more than your house would sell for. In a cooling, or slowing, real estate market, you do not want to be maxed out on the equity in your home. If something happened and you had to sell, you want to walk away from the closing table with money, not have to go to it with a check. Paying to sell your home isn’t how you want to do it.
Fixed-rate mortgages are always a good and solid financial choice. Anytime you are looking to refinance, your best option is to go with the shortest-term, fixed-rate mortgage you can afford.
Mortgage rates tumbled, as short-term mortgage rates shot up higher sending the share of variable rate applications tumbling.
The share of adjustable rate mortgage application sank though a big drop in yield of the 1year Treasury-indexed ARM may change that. However, latest report suggests that late payments on subprime adjustable-rate mortgages have increased for eight consecutive quarters and currently sit near 17%, while delinquency improved on the fixed rate mortgages and loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration. Fueled by activity in just four states, foreclosure continued to rise during the latest quarter.
Among the rising fears, one is that the sub-prime mortgage crisis is beginning to infect Americas $300 car loan market as evidence emerges of a surge in the numbers of motorists in arrears. Lenders who made more than 40,000 sub-prime car loans in 2006 saw the percentage on those in arrears jump from 6.8% to 8%, while smaller lenders who lend to offer loans to higher risk customers saw their arrears levels more than double from 6.2% in 2005 to 14.6% in 2006. Wall Street is worried that the same mortgage borrowers who are falling behind with their home loan repayments will also miss repayments on their car loans.
The housing slump in the country is causing financial pain to banks that provided expensive home loans to low-income householders with poor credit ratings. The sub-prime car loan market targets the same risky borrowers. Like the mortgage market, sub-prime car loan companies package loans and sell them to financial investors.
Tighter lending conditions around expanding subprime mortgage market could even splash some cold water on the housing sector in the months ahead. Some lenders in the alternative mortgage market have already jacked up mortgage rates or withdrawn products in the face of rising costs. Several subprime lenders even have raised their mortgage rates by 100 basis points in the past three weeks. Commenting on the impact of the issue, Alex Haditaghi, chief executive officer of MotgageBrokers.Com, a publicly traded mortgage company, said, it will affect not all consumers, but a niche market however, that niche market is one with very active house buyers.
Most economists figure that the market is ripe for a slowdown anyway. Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, for example, expects housing starts will slip 3% this year and about 6% next year. However, the credit squeeze is on the run that began in the US and has rippled throughout the world as a potential risk.
Earnings and liquidity continue to preoccupy executives and boardrooms of mortgage companies though some merger activity maintained. But as lenders grapple with unprecedented chaos in the mortgage market, class action attorneys are busy filing numerous lawsuits alleging investors were deceived.
Global markets continued to reflect concerns about economic impact of the crisis. The dollar fell to a record low against the euro and US equities also decline. Although some markets have already improved since the turmoil but the crisis would unwind at different rates in different markets.