By now we all know that interest rates have remained at incredible lows for the past year, but the times may be changing. Christopher J. Mayer, a senior vice dean and a professor at the Columbia University Business School told the New York Times recently, “The window of low rates could have left us.” Fixed mortgage rates are already up a half-point higher than in November.
Of course, the perception of these rates is all relative. This same month in 2008 rates were hovering around 7% while at the moment they remain around 4.5%. Nonetheless, an upward trend is predicted as the economy gets back on track.
The Mortgage Bankers Association says its refinance index increased 7.7% from the previous week and that overall the mortgage applications index rose 5% this week as Buyers and those looking to refinance seek to take advantage of rates while they’re still low. While no one is sure when exactly rates will cap or at what rate they will stabilize, the consensus is that they will – and perhaps in the not-to-distant future.
