Mortgage Interest Rates Creeping UP – Buy NOW

A February 8^th article titled Home Affordability Returns to Pre-Bubble Levels in the Wall Street Journal by Nick Timiraos Quoted Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics as saying "Based on incomes, this is as affordable as it gets. If you can get a loan, these are pretty good times to buy."

Bankrate.com just reported that mortgage interest rates are moving up as follows:

Loan Type	Today	Last Week
30 Year Fixed	4.99%	4.78%
15 Year Fixed	4.24%	4.08%
1 Year ARM	3.02%	3.09%
30 Year Fixed Jumbo	5.48%	5.35%
5/1 ARM	3.55%	3.42%
3/1 ARM	3.78%	3.71%

Trump was recent quoted to say “Anyone who buys a home today will be very glad they did in another ten years”.

The smartest buyers today should be considering purchasing a home now before the interest rates and price increases reduce the purchasing power our current market has afforded potential home owners.

One last convincing argument for everyone to consider is that a typical Denver area home valued at $300,000 today purchased with a maximum FHA loan would require a monthly payment of approximately $2,087 . That same house in one year after 3% appreciation with only a projected 5.5% interest rate would require a $2,232 monthly principal, interest, taxes, mortgage insurance and property insurance payment. If you wait until the end of this year to buy, your increase in payment of $145 would equal a loss of $27,000 in your purchasing power. In other words, homes that are selling for $273,000 today are what you will be able to afford by the end of the year.

Special thanks to Curt Samuelson with Bank of America Home Loans for his assistance in providing accurate loan calculations.