You may be surprised on how interest rates are projected to have a positive impact on the real estate market. Interest rates are projected to increase again. If you have been leaning toward purchasing,selling or refinancing a home, now is the time to do it. For those interested in purchasing, here is the average timeline from start to close.
Pre-approval for a Loan
Finding a real estate professional to help you. You can stop your search you found us!
The average time to look online and view homes is 3-6 weeks.
Drafting, presenting, and negotiating a contract one to five days.
From execution of the contract financing will take on average 30-45 days.
The Federal Open Market Committee meeting was significant in that the Fed now appears committed to a path of steady rate hikes. It will probably lift short-term rates by 0.25% two more times in 2017, first at its June 14 meeting and next on either September 20 or December 13. via Kiplinger
Seeing the Bigger Picture
Interest rates increasing are not necessarily a bad thing. CNBC just posted an article stating the following:
First, consumer psychology: There’s an entire cohort of potential homebuyers who have known nothing other than historically low interest rates. But now, having seen the Fed raise rates last week, and with two more rate increases considered very likely this year, many of these homebuyers will get off the fence and into the market before rates go any higher. At the very least this should result in more demand through the peak spring and summer selling seasons, and may even drive enough sales to have a positive effect on the overall economy.
Second, lending standards: Higher interest rates may provide lenders with more of an incentive to make loans – and a little bit of a cushion against risk – which will very likely loosen some of the incredibly tight lending standards that have prevented millions of credit-worthy borrowers from getting mortgages over the past few years. Higher rates will also drastically reduce the number of refinance loans being issued, which lenders may try to offset by doing more purchase loans.
Finally, predictability: the 25 basis point hike was well within the range that most industry analysts had expected, which means it’s possible that last week’s hike won’t cause mortgage rates to rise significantly from current levels. In fact, a week later, rates on 30-year and 15-year fixed rate loans are basically unchanged, and still at the low end of historical rates.
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