Mortgage rates have made a terrible start to 2013, and that may be just the start.  For today’s home buyers and rate shoppers, their predictions may be a signal to “buy now”. The longer you wait, they say, the more your should expect to pay on your mortgage.

MBA : Rates To Climb One Percentage Point

Freddie Mac’s weekly mortgage rate survey put last week’s average 30-year fixed rate mortgage rate nationwide at 3.53% — already one quarter-percentage point higher than November’s all-time low.
And, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), we’re headed much, much higher.
In its annual mortgage rate forecast, the MBA projects that the 30-year fixed will rise to 4.40% within tis year. This is more than a full percentage point higher than rates from January 1, 2013, a shift which would decimate buyer purchasing power, and end the longest Refi Boom in recent history.
To understand the magnitude of 4.40% mortgage rates as compared to rates from January, consider a home buyer in the San Francisco, California borrowing at the local jumbo loan limit of $625,500.

• In 2012, at 3.32 percent, the mortgage payment is $2,751
• In 2013, at 4.40 percent, the mortgage payment is $3,132, a $381 increase

Or, presented in reverse, to maintain a monthly mortgage payment of $2,751, the Bay Area borrower could borrow $548,400, and not a penny more. This is a 12.4% purchasing power reduction and suggests that buyers should lock their rates now.  Written by Kara’s Guest Blogger:  Dan Green (NMLS #227607) is an active loan officer with Waterstone Mortgage

I ran across this article this morning and wanted to share it.  Rates are continuing to inch up, if you have been trying to decide when the best time to refinance your current mortgage is-  THIS IS THE TIME.  Please feel free to call me and go over if a refinance is in your best interest, and if I can reduce you mortgage term.  Kara Holleran 239-246-6000.