Mortgage Rates Fall for Week of February 8
Mortgage rates fell during the week of February 8, according to HSH Associates, with 30-year fixed rates moving down from 5.42% to 5.36%, and rates for a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) decreasing by 5 basis points from 4.81% to 4.76%. Average mortgage rates for a 5/1 hybrid adjustable rate mortgage (ARM) fell from 4.60% to 4.57%.
Along with some of the best mortgage rates, there are additional incentives for buying a home as the deadline for the federal tax credit approaches and the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) prepares to increase its up-front mortgage insurance premium from 1.75% to 2.25% and tighten certain credit requirements. If you're planning to take advantage of the tax credit and need to finance more than 80% of your new home's current value, don't delay.
Home Loans: Great Deals, Buying Incentives
Home prices remain low compared to a few years ago when housing markets--driven by loose credit markets--were flourishing. Now that common sense has returned to home pricing and mortgage lending, buyers seeking mortgage loans and homeowners wishing to refinance can benefit from low rates, mortgage loans with no exotic terms (unexpected and rapidly rising payments or negative amortization, for example), and affordable home prices. Adding the federal tax credit only puts the icing on your mortgage shopping cake.
Less-Than-Perfect Credit? Try FHA Home Loans
FHA guidelines are more lenient than conventional mortgage underwriting rules and allow borrowers with less than perfect credit to qualify for mortgage loans with down payments as low as 3.5%. The FHA is changing its requirements in April 2010 to require a minimum credit score of 580 in order to make the minimum 3.5% down payment. (If your credit score is below 580, FHA will soon require a 10% down payment.) The agency is also increasing its up-front mortgage insurance premium (UFMIP) from 1.75% of the mortgage amount to 2.25%. For a home loan of $200,000, this represents and increase of $1,000.
Our live database of current mortgage rates can help you find the best mortgage rates in your area.
