Nearly 80% Of Homeowners Think Buying A Home Is A Good Idea

This comforting news about the state of the housing market in the United States comes from the National Association of Realtors® 8th Annual Housing Opportunity Pulse Survey. The survey found that while there is a great deal of concern among American home owners and renters about the number of foreclosures, ease of qualifying for a mortgage loan, and how difficult they perceive it to be to sell a home, it is still a smart financial move to buy a home. Read more about the survey and the results here.

It is good to see that this part of the classic American Dream is alive and well. Though the ups and downs of the housing market in recent years have scared away some potential buyers, there are many others who saw falling home prices and low mortgage rates as an opportunity to get a great deal on a new property.

If you are considering entering the market for a new home check out current mortgage rates at forthebestrate.com.

When Is It Time To Refinance?

Hearing reports of low mortgage rates in the news can make you stop to wonder if it makes sense to refinance your mortgage. The best thing to do is to run the numbers. Check out this Refinance Break-even Calculator from ForTheBestRate.com. By entering data such as your current interest rate, loan balance, and the currently available mortgage rates and closing costs you can see how many months at your new mortgage payment it would take to come out ahead. If it would take several years to break even and you are considering selling the home in a year or two, it probably makes sense to stick with your current loan. If it will only take a few months to start seeing savings and you are in this property for the long haul than you will almost certainly want to apply for a refinance mortgage.

Check out the great refinance rates currently advertised on ForTheBestRate.com to get started.

Weekly Mortgage Rate Recap - As of Oct. 7th

According to Freddie Mac's Weekly Mortgage Survey, 30 year fixed mortgage rates and 5/1 ARM mortgage rates dropped to break the the survey's all-time low benchmark! 30 year year fixed rates averaged 4.27% with .8 pts which is lower than last week when they were at 4.32%.

15 year fixed rate mortgages were also at the survey's all-time record low at 3.72% with .7pts. This was a hair lower than last week's 3.75%.

5 year treasury indexed hybrid ARM mortgages average 3.47% with .6 pts which was down from 3.52% from the previous week.

The survey noted that housing affordibilty improved for the second consecutive month in August according to NAR. Pending homes sales also increased for the second straight month at the most rapid pace in the previous four months.

Source: http://www.freddiemac.com/pmms/release.html?week=40&year=2010

How about today's rates?

A quick glance of mortgage companies today on ForTheBestRate.com showed:

LoanDepot advertising a 30 year fixed rate mortgage in North Carolina at 4.000% with 1 point, $1595 in fees, and an APR of 4.151%.

Gateway Bank Mortgage was also posting 30 year fixed mortgage rates at a note rate of 4.000% with .75 pts and only $875 in fees - APR of 4.099%.