The Associated Press is reporting that the interest rate on a 30 year fixed rate mortgage has crossed above 4% for the first time in 3 months. If you've been delaying the purchase of a home in southern New Hampshire you may want to accelerate your buying plans. Locking in a low interest rate on a home mortgage could be one of the best financial moves you could make. For those of you too young to remember, I will remind you of a time, long, long ago, in the 1980's when the 30 year fixed interest rate was above 18%. When they finally dropped to 12% we all though we had reached nirvana. A 4% mortgage interest rate is an aberation which is not like to last and if inflation picks up it will be nothing but a fading memory. While neither NAR, Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac are predicting any large spikes up in interest rates, even a modest increase can affect the affordability of a home.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The average rate in the U.S. on a 30-year fixed mortgage rose above 4 percent for the first time in more than three months. The sharp increase suggests the window to buy or refinance a home at historically low rates is closing. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac says the rate on the 30-year loan jumped to 4.08 percent, up from 3.92 percent the previous week. A month ago, it touched 3.87 percent, the lowest since long-term mortgages began in the 1950s. The average on the 15-year fixed mortgage rose to 3.30 percent, up from 3.16 percent last week and a record low of 3.13 percent two weeks ago. The low rates have been among the positive signs that suggest the housing market could pick up this year.