Mortgage rates over the past year have been very volatile yet very low! Each month, we seem to hit an all-time new low. One year ago, mortgage rates for the 30 year fixed rate was at 5%. As soon as this rate came out, there was an unbelievable rush to get closed or refinanced as soon as possible.
Today, the new lows are in the low to mid 4's. Now, borrowers think 5% is WAY TOO HIGH and believe they should wait for lower rates. Typically, when new lows are reached, the market almost immediately pulls back to higher levels. As with mortgage rates, commercial rates (Prime rate) is a all time low levels as well.
Take a look at what history shows us.
DATE VALUE
1955-08-04 3.25
1955-10-14 3.50
1956-04-13 3.75
1956-08-21 4.00
1957-08-06 4.50
1958-01-22 4.00
1958-04-21 3.50
1958-09-11 4.00
1959-05-18 4.50
1959-09-01 5.00
1960-08-23 4.50
1965-12-06 5.00
1966-03-10 5.50
1966-06-29 5.75
1966-08-16 6.00
1967-01-26 5.75
1967-03-27 5.50
1967-11-20 6.00
1968-04-19 6.50
1968-09-25 6.25
1968-12-02 6.50
1968-12-18 6.75
1969-01-07 7.00
1969-03-17 7.50
1969-06-09 8.50
1970-03-25 8.00
1970-09-21 7.50
1970-11-12 7.25
1970-11-23 7.00
1970-12-22 6.75
1971-01-06 6.50
1971-01-15 6.25
1971-01-18 6.00
1971-02-16 5.75
1971-03-11 5.50
1971-03-19 5.25
1971-04-23 5.50
1971-07-07 6.00
1971-10-20 5.75
1971-11-08 5.50
1971-12-17 5.25
1972-01-03 5.00
1972-01-18 4.75
1972-02-16 4.50
1972-03-20 4.75
1972-03-31 5.00
1972-06-27 5.25
1972-08-29 5.50
1972-10-03 5.75
1972-12-27 6.00
1973-02-27 6.25
1973-03-26 6.50
1973-04-19 6.75
1973-05-07 7.00
1973-05-25 7.25
1973-06-07 7.50
1973-06-22 7.75
1973-07-02 8.00
1973-07-09 8.25
1973-07-18 8.50
1973-07-30 8.75
1973-08-06 9.00
1973-08-13 9.25
1973-08-21 9.50
1973-08-28 9.75
1973-09-18 10.00
1973-10-23 9.75
1973-10-29 9.50
1973-12-03 9.75
1974-01-29 9.50
1974-02-11 9.25
1974-02-19 9.00
1974-02-25 8.75
1974-03-22 9.00
1974-04-01 9.25
1974-04-04 9.50
1974-04-08 9.75
1974-04-11 10.00
1974-04-22 10.25
1974-04-25 10.50
1974-05-02 10.75
1974-05-07 11.00
1974-05-10 11.25
1974-05-17 11.50
1974-06-27 11.75
1974-07-08 12.00
1974-10-08 11.75
1974-10-22 11.25
1974-11-06 11.00
1974-11-13 10.75
1974-11-25 10.25
1975-01-13 10.00
1975-01-28 9.50
1975-02-03 9.00
1975-02-18 8.75
1975-02-24 8.50
1975-03-03 8.25
1975-03-10 8.00
1975-03-19 7.75
1975-03-25 7.50
1975-05-20 7.25
1975-06-09 7.00
1975-07-18 7.25
1975-07-25 7.50
1975-08-11 7.75
1975-09-15 8.00
1975-10-27 7.75
1975-11-04 7.50
1975-12-01 7.25
1976-01-12 7.00
1976-01-21 6.75
1976-06-01 7.00
1976-06-04 7.25
1976-08-02 7.00
1976-10-01 6.75
1976-10-29 6.50
1976-12-10 6.25
1977-05-13 6.50
1977-05-27 6.75
1977-08-22 7.00
1977-09-16 7.25
1977-10-07 7.50
1977-10-24 7.75
1978-01-10 8.00
1978-05-05 8.25
1978-05-26 8.50
1978-06-16 8.75
1978-06-30 9.00
1978-09-01 9.25
1978-09-15 9.50
1978-09-28 9.75
1978-10-13 10.00
1978-10-27 10.25
1978-11-01 10.50
1978-11-06 10.75
1978-11-17 11.00
1978-11-24 11.50
1978-12-26 11.75
1979-06-19 11.50
1979-07-27 11.75
1979-08-16 12.00
1979-08-28 12.25
1979-09-07 12.75
1979-09-14 13.00
1979-09-20 13.25
1979-09-28 13.50
1979-10-09 14.50
1979-10-24 15.00
1979-11-01 15.25
1979-11-09 15.50
1979-11-16 15.75
1979-11-30 15.50
1979-12-07 15.25
1980-02-19 15.75
1980-02-22 16.50
1980-02-29 16.75
1980-03-04 17.25
1980-03-07 17.75
1980-03-14 18.50
1980-03-19 19.00
1980-03-28 19.50
1980-04-02 20.00
1980-04-18 19.50
1980-05-01 18.50
1980-05-07 17.50
1980-05-16 16.50
1980-05-23 14.50
1980-05-28 14.00
1980-06-06 13.00
1980-06-13 12.50
1980-06-17 12.00
1980-07-07 11.50
1980-07-23 11.00
1980-08-22 11.25
1980-08-27 11.50
1980-09-08 12.00
1980-09-12 12.25
1980-09-19 12.50
1980-09-26 13.00
1980-10-01 13.50
1980-10-17 14.00
1980-10-29 14.50
1980-11-06 15.50
1980-11-17 16.25
1980-11-21 17.00
1980-11-26 17.75
1980-12-02 18.50
1980-12-05 19.00
1980-12-10 20.00
1980-12-16 21.00
1980-12-19 21.50
1981-01-02 20.50
1981-01-09 20.00
1981-02-03 19.50
1981-02-23 19.00
1981-03-03 18.50
1981-03-10 18.00
1981-03-17 17.50
1981-03-24 17.00
1981-03-27 17.50
1981-04-01 17.00
1981-04-20 17.50
1981-04-29 18.00
1981-05-04 19.00
1981-05-11 19.50
1981-05-18 20.00
1981-05-22 20.50
1981-06-01 20.00
1981-07-08 20.50
1981-09-16 20.00
1981-09-22 19.50
1981-10-05 19.00
1981-10-13 18.00
1981-11-02 17.50
1981-11-09 17.00
1981-11-16 16.50
1981-11-24 16.00
1981-12-01 15.75
1982-02-02 16.50
1982-02-17 17.00
1982-02-23 16.50
1982-07-20 16.00
1982-07-29 15.50
1982-08-02 15.00
1982-08-16 14.50
1982-08-18 14.00
1982-08-23 13.50
1982-10-07 13.00
1982-10-13 12.00
1982-11-22 11.50
1983-01-11 11.00
1983-02-25 10.50
1983-08-08 11.00
1984-03-19 11.50
1984-04-05 12.00
1984-05-08 12.50
1984-06-25 13.00
1984-09-27 12.75
1984-10-16 12.50
1984-10-29 12.00
1984-11-08 11.75
1984-11-28 11.25
1984-12-19 10.75
1985-01-15 10.50
1985-05-20 10.00
1985-06-18 9.50
1986-03-07 9.00
1986-04-21 8.50
1986-07-11 8.00
1986-08-26 7.50
1987-04-01 7.75
1987-05-01 8.00
1987-05-15 8.25
1987-09-04 8.75
1987-10-07 9.25
1987-10-22 9.00
1987-11-05 8.75
1988-02-02 8.50
1988-05-11 9.00
1988-07-14 9.50
1988-08-11 10.00
1988-11-28 10.50
1989-02-10 11.00
1989-02-24 11.50
1989-06-05 11.00
1989-07-31 10.50
1990-01-08 10.00
1991-01-02 9.50
1991-02-04 9.00
1991-05-01 8.50
1991-09-13 8.00
1991-11-06 7.50
1991-12-23 6.50
1992-07-02 6.00
1994-03-24 6.25
1994-04-19 6.75
1994-05-17 7.25
1994-08-16 7.75
1994-11-15 8.50
1995-02-01 9.00
1995-07-07 8.75
1995-12-20 8.50
1996-02-01 8.25
1997-03-26 8.50
1998-09-30 8.25
1998-10-16 8.00
1998-11-18 7.75
1999-07-01 8.00
1999-08-25 8.25
1999-11-17 8.50
2000-02-03 8.75
2000-03-22 9.00
2000-05-17 9.50
2001-01-04 9.00
2001-02-01 8.50
2001-03-21 8.00
2001-04-19 7.50
2001-05-16 7.00
2001-06-28 6.75
2001-08-22 6.50
2001-09-18 6.00
2001-10-03 5.50
2001-11-07 5.00
2001-12-12 4.75
2002-11-07 4.25
2003-06-27 4.00
2004-07-01 4.25
2004-08-11 4.50
2004-09-21 4.75
2004-11-10 5.00
2004-12-15 5.25
2005-02-02 5.50
2005-03-22 5.75
2005-05-03 6.00
2005-06-30 6.25
2005-08-09 6.50
2005-09-20 6.75
2005-11-01 7.00
2005-12-13 7.25
2006-01-31 7.50
2006-03-28 7.75
2006-05-10 8.00
2006-06-29 8.25
2007-09-18 7.75
2007-10-31 7.50
2007-12-11 7.25
2008-01-22 6.50
2008-01-30 6.00
2008-03-18 5.25
2008-04-30 5.00
2008-10-08 4.50
2008-10-29 4.00
2008-12-16 3.25
Be thankful that we are not in the 15 to 20% range. If this were the case, no one would ever wait to refinance if they were offered anything under 5%. If you are thinking about refinancing and are holding out for an extra .125 or .25 in rate, then you are missing out. If you could currently save $200 a month but you would rather chance the market and try to save an extra $20, then you will most likely get burned doing so. Odds are, you'll end up losing $20 to $40 in what you could have already saved. Even if you beat the market but it takes you 3 months to do so, then it will take you years to make up the amount that you would have save over those same 3 months.
Have a great week!
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