The Refinance Boom Could Be Bad News for Home Buyers This Spring - Here's Why

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The Refinance Boom Could Be Bad News for Home Buyers This Spring - Here's Why.

The Refinance Boom Could Be Bad News for Home Buyers This Spring—Here's Why

When homeowners raced to refinance their home loans amid record-low mortgage rates, many didn't realize the repercussions this could have for buyers.

m.sfgate.com

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Richard

 

[JanT]

It's going to be interesting to see what happens with the housing market. We had intended to put our house on the market in mid-April but that's shot to heck now. But, there are much larger problems than that going on right now in the world so putting it on hold just isn't an issue.

 

[chellej]

DD put an offer in about 2 weeks ago on a house. At the time the interest rate was in the 2.49 % range, yesterday when the VA appraiser was there it has now jumped to 4%. I am not so sure it is even wise to proceed at this point. There is so much uncertainty and it was not the wisest purchase, to begin with.

 

[Panina]

DD put an offer in about 2 weeks ago on a house. At the time the interest rate was in the 2.49 % range, yesterday when the VA appraiser was there it has now jumped to 4%. I am not so sure it is even wise to proceed at this point. There is so much uncertainty and it was not the wisest purchase, to begin with.

Waiting might be wise, house selling has basically stopped. When it resumes there will be some that have to sell. Imo prices will go down for awhile.

 

[isisdave]

Same here ... when this all ramped up, on Monday 3/9, our credit union (PenFed) was listing 15 year fixed refis at 2.50%. I called and a clerk said they're swamped and someone would call me back. No one did. Tried again that Wednesday. Same result. A week later is was 3.275% (higher than current loan) and last night it was 4.0! Now it's 3.375 again. What the heck? Supposedly this is because demand is so high they don't have the staff.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

Yes it is crazy. Rates were briefly at 3.0% and 0 points then shot up due to demand to slow it down. I was told to wait a month or so by the loan officer. He also said they are taking 90 days to fund because they want to ensure you still have a job when they close.

 

[bbodb1]

Ours is definitely a sellers market (for now) - I just hope it stays that way (or comes back around to that) when it is time for us to move/retire!

 

[northwoodsgal]

Let's see how long before real estate appraisers refuse to walk in to random houses to do an inspection.

 

[Big Matt]

I work in this industry. Major players including government insurers are working to find alternatives that will allow loans to close quickly without people being present at closing. Also, remember that home prices are driven by supply and not demand. We've had near record shortages in our housing stock for the last couple of years. I don't see that changing until people start defaulting on their homes.