Mortgage Interest Rates Hit 8-Year High

By Steve Cline, Preferred Financial

www.BlackhawkLivingCA.com

According to the latest Freddie Mac report,

the 30-year fixed rate average is at its highest point in almost 8 years

4.94% with a half point charged (a point is a fee paid to a lender equal to 1% of the loan amount). In addition to that half-point, and using a $453,100 loan amount, the title, escrow, appraisal and all other finance-related fees will add another $3200+/- to the cost of a purchase or refinance transaction. Using those average numbers and loan amount, the consumer will pay about $5465 in fees to obtain a monthly payment of $2416. As a comparison, at Preferred Financial, the same loan amount of $453,100 has an interest rate of 4.875% with zero points and zero fees and a monthly payment of $2398*.

At its November meeting, the Federal Reserve left its key policy rate unchanged but signaled that it plans to keep responding to the strong U.S. economy with more interest rate increases. The next increase is expected in December 2018.

*Preferred’s quote is based on rates as of November 9, 2018, a minimum credit score of 760 and a maximum 60% loan-to-value ratio.