I received the following email from a reader asking about the federal government’s Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) earlier this week: I have been looking into the HARP 2.0 program to refinance my home. I qualify according to program guidelines, but find it hard to shop interest rates and find lenders that deal honestly with…
Tag: Interest Rates
People Stink at Predicting Interest Rates
Last summer we ran a poll that asked the question “When will interest rates first rise back above 6%?” Here are the results of that poll: With the rate for a 30-year fixed currently averaging 3.69%, it’s rather startling that 36% of you believed that interest rates would rise above six percent before the end…
Poll: A year from now, 30-year mortgage rates will be…
This poll was active 07.01.2012 through 07.07.2012
Local Incomes Could Afford 22% More Expensive Homes
Let’s take an updated look at home affordability in King County. First up, the affordability index. The affordability index is based on three factors: median single-family home price as reported by the NWMLS, 30-year monthly mortgage rates as reported by the Federal Reserve, and estimated median household income as reported by the Washington State Office…
Will Higher Interest Rates Kill the Housing Market?
Here’s a sampling of quotes from news articles about mortgage interest rates. “…a new reality: The economy has made the transition from tentative to robust recovery, and the period of historically low interest rates is ending.” “In the residential market, the belief that the period of historically low interest rates may end has begun to…