A sign advertising home loan rates for purchase or refinancing at a Bank of America in New York.
Scott Mlyn | CNBC
A brief surge in mortgage refinance demand fizzled fast, after interest rates resumed their climb along with the stock market. The initial scare from the Covid omicron variant caused rates to drop for about four days, sending borrowers rushing to their lenders, but then rates moved sharply higher again, and then see-sawed a bit last week.
As a result of the sharp swings, for the week the average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($548,250 or less) remained unchanged at 3.30%, with points staying unchanged at 0.39 (including the origination fee) for loans with a 20% down payment.
Applications to refinance a home loan decreased 6% for the week and were 41% lower than the same week one year ago, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s seasonally adjusted index. Last year at this time rates were about 45 basis points lower.
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Even a small increase (or decrease) in interest rates can impact your monthly housing cost. If buying a home in 2019 is on your short list of goals to achieve, let’s get together to find out if you are able to today.
