The last week of February 2020 was a remarkable one for mortgage loan interest rates. Much has been made of the economic effects of the virus that causes coronavirus disease, also known as COVID-19 or SARS-CoV-2, according to the Centers For Disease Control.

FHA.com: Home Purchase and Refinance Loans

FHA Loan Programs for 2024

The most recognized 3.5% down payment mortgage in the country. Affordable payments w/good credit.

Are You Watching Your Credit Score?




- Improving Your Credit Score Has Never Been More Important -

FHA.com is a privately owned website, is not a government agency, and does not make loans.
FHA Home Loans

Choose a Loan Type

FHA.com is a privately owned website, is not a government agency, and does not make loans.

Mortgage Loan Interest Rates at Eight Year Lows?

March 9, 2020

interest-rate-10-5e6675d132c4a.png
The last week of February 2020 was a remarkable one for mortgage loan interest rates. Much has been made of the economic effects of the virus that causes coronavirus disease, also known as COVID-19 or SARS-CoV-2, according to the Centers For Disease Control.

World headlines have not been encouraging, especially for investors who continue to flee riskier investments for safer territory; in Japan alone reporters are discussing the closure of all public schools in response to coronavirus fears; there are worries over the Olympics and scheduled events including the traditional Olympic torch relay.

And at home, with some not-promising headlines about potentially/allegedly unprepared health workers dealing with coronavirus patients (such stories remain to be more fully developed at press time) and investors running away from business-as-usual investing until the crisis blows over?

Mortgage loan and refinance loan interest rates have hit what some market watchers term “eight year lows” but with many caveats.

At the time of this writing, the best-execution FHA home loan interest rate sits at an astounding THREE PERCENT. In the past, with few exceptions, it was remarkable for FHA and VA mortgage rates to dip below 3.25%. That figure seemed to be a baseline rock-bottom number at times. But now?

And what of the caveats mentioned above? They include advice from several published sources that A) not all lenders are repricing their mortgage loan interest rates at the same speed or consistency and B) there is no telling how long or short the current trend may last.

“Market correction” is a phrase you start hearing in times like these--when rates get too high or too low, the conditions that forced those changes will eventually stop putting that up or downward pressure on rates. And when that happens, the rubberband will snap back, so to speak, to a more reasonable position.

Sometimes the correction is fairly decisive, other times there may be periods of market volatility and rates may fluctuate for a bit before settling down to a more reasonable level.

By the time you get to read this, such a correction could have already happened. And that does NOT guarantee that conditions will not return to introduce more volatility; just look what happened for a few days in February when it was perceived for a few days that the worst might be over with coronavirus. Then the last week in February came along to remind us that nobody truly controls a virus.

The best advice if you are looking at the FHA mortgage loan rates today? If you are READY to apply, now is the best time. But if you are NOT yet ready? Focus on getting yourself ready for the loan and don’t fret about a (comparatively) short-term change in the mortgage rate environment. Low rates help those who are ready to apply. They can’t help you if you are still working on fixing your payment history, don’t have enough down payment saved up yet, etc. In the meantime it is a very good idea to talk to a lender about your home loan options to select and which mortgage may be right for you based on your goals and needs.

------------------------------

RELATED VIDEOS:
Keep Your Eyes on Your Loan Balance
Learn About FHA Loan Prepayments
Taking Out a Home Loan Makes You a Borrower

Do you know what's on your credit report?

Learn what your score means.