With a mortgage rate of 5.5% on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage being hailed as a 40-year low just a few short years ago, current mortgage rates continue to flirt with record lows today. It has been said time and time again that if you're considering refinancing or delving into the world of homeownership, the time is now. Well, if it's been said time and time again, why is there such urgency now?
In an extended interview with Time magazine, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke briefly discussed his own personal refinance a few months ago. So if the man who controls mortgage rates recently refinanced, it's a good sign the time is absolutely now. Furthermore, most housing analysts are surmising that current mortgage rates will indeed rise rapidly in 2010 as the federal government concludes their commitment to purchase $1.25 trillion in mortgage-backed securities, in addition to the expiration of the $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit and the $6,500 "move up" homebuyer tax credit.
Here is a brief excerpt from the Time interview:
Time: What's your interest rate?
Bernanke: That I'm earning?
Time: No, on your house. Do you have a mortgage?
Bernanke: Oh, yes, we refinanced.
Time: Oh, perfect. When?
Bernanke: About 5%. A couple of months ago.
Time: Good time.
Time: Yes.
Bernanke: We had to do it because we had an adjustable rate mortgage and it exploded, so we had to.
Time: So, did you get a fixed rate at 5%? I think this might be the most valuable piece of information. (Laughter)
Bernanke: Thirty years fixed rate at a little over 5%.
For clarification, Bernanke suggests in the interview that his adjustable-rate mortgage "exploded," forcing his hand to refinance. However, Bernanke's adjustable-rate mortgage more-than-likely just reached the end of its initial five-year term. If that is the case, his monthly mortgage payment would be decreasing now, not increasing. Ultimately, I believe Bernanke's foresight into a 2010 mortgage rate hike is likely the reason he refinanced his adjustable-rate mortgage into a more secure fixed-rate mortgage. In the end, a large proportionate of mortgage analysts agree that current mortgage rates are significantly lower now than can be expected in 2010.
-Robert Hyder
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