Low Mortgage Interest Rates Allays Refinancing Jitters

As interest rates plummet from 6% to below 5% borrowers seeking to save thousands in mortgage interest costs when refinancing their home loans are now confronted with the challenge to secure the very best deal available. The question is - Will consumers who don't refinance now miss the boat? When is the best time to refinance? How does one secure the better deal?

(PRWEB) May 9, 2004 --The Mortgage Loan Search network, a rate finding search engine, reports a marked increase in mortgage interest rate searches as borrowers shopping for the lowest rates try not to miss the boat. Thus the bargain loan hunting jitters begin.

Increased mortgage rate search acitivity is largely due to a series of fed rate cuts over the past 8 months beginning January 22, 2008. The result has been a market drop in interest rates that many brokers and agents say is spurring activity.

Mortgage activity jumped to four month high. Refinancing revive mortgage application submissions.

According to the Mortgage Bankers Association's Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey refinance applications filed were up 88.1%, compared with the previous week. Applications to purchase a home were up a seasonally adjusted 2.4%, compared with the week before. .

As rates dip competition for consumers seeking home mortgage information gets increasingly stiff according to Mark Askew, a representative of the RefinanceLoanRates Network. A publisher of consumer related financial news, tools and rate watch resources. "Lenders offer more attractive packages. For example many lenders in the Internet lending marketplace are offering attractive lures such as loan approval in as little as 24 hours. Low and no interest loans including home equity loans. Programs that promise to save $200-$500 a month. Pre-Approval in 48 hours. No cost free mortgage rate quotes. Refinancing for the self-employed and financing programs for bad credit situations."

Of all the more attractive financing programs offered "no cost" and "no point" loans are gaining popularity. The reason is obvious. Loan shoppers want to save money, especially up front. "No cost" financing may appear to do just the ticket to that end. The reality is the borrower has agreed to the higher interest rate in exchange for no points and/or no closing costs. On average, for a 30-year fixed rate loan, every point changes the interest rate by 1/4%.

Often the borrower gets a higher loan than originally applied for and the broker subsequently gets a higher commission. No wonder in the first quarter, 43% of the homeowners who refinanced their homes got a mortgage at least 5% larger than the original loan. Therefore the Mortgage Loan Search Network recommends that it's users request that a specified fee be negotiated before formal application.

To that end mortgage rate shoppers are pulling out all the stops to find the lowest rate possible and using the Internets deal search and seizure powers to find the best loan deals available. One such site, http://refinanceloanrates.fimark.net [http://refinanceloanrates.fimark.net] boldly advises rate shoppers not to settle for the first or second quote they get when applying for free rate quotes online. And when a quote sounds attractive get it in writing.

That said consumers would do well to lock in rates as soon as possible but not so soon that the loan fails to close before the rate lock expires.

As interest rates dip borrowers seeking to save thousands in loan costs off-set the stress of finding and securing a good home refinancing deal by being patient, cautious and careful.