We know that March is about shamrocks and leprechauns, but it also can mean green savings in your wallet. Mortgage rates went down again – for the second week in a row – according to the LendingTree Weekly Mortgage Rate Pulse. The pulse is a snapshot of the lowest and average home loan rates available within the LendingTree network of lenders.
The latest pulse was taken on March 1, and this is what we found for average home loan rates offered by LendingTree network lenders:
- 5.06% (5.28% APR) for 30-year fixed mortgages,
- 4.29% (4.6% APR) for 15-year fixed mortgages
- 3.79% (4.01% APR) for 5/1 adjustable rate mortgages (ARM)
Rates for all loan types fell from last week’s averages.
On the same day, the lowest mortgage rates offered by lenders on the LendingTree network were 4.75 percent (4.89% APR) for a 30-year fixed mortgage, 3.875 percent (4.12% APR) for a 15-year fixed mortgage and 3.125 percent (3.31% APR) for a 5/1 ARM. Lowest rates also fell week over week.
LendingTree Chief Economist Cameron Findlay sees this as being great news for home buyers, especially when combined with today’s low home prices. But don’t wait for your Irish luck to run out.
“There is a serious storm brewing in Washington that could raise the down payment required to get a loan to 20%,” he said. “Federal regulators are in the final stages of defining new mortgage rules, stemming from the definition of a Qualified Residential Mortgage (QRM), that have the potential to limit the availability of credit and reduce the pool of eligible borrowers by as much as 35%.”
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Thanks Lending Tree for the post. There seems to be a growing optimism for home buyers within the next few months about purchasing a new home and mortgage. We will have to wait to see how Washington’s new policies may be a game changer.
Thanks again,
Jason