Coronavirus outbreak impact on housing market
As the COVID-19 pandemic started to affect our economy, federal loan rates plummeted to 0 percent. That drop soon affected mortgage rates, as it set the tone for a decrease.
"Did COVID create even more instability and uncertainty amongst investors and buyers and sellers? Of course," said expert mortgage lender Cori Scherer.
Scherer told ABC13 that rates were already low, but then they really hit rock bottom. The average rates, when higher, were around 5 percent, but now rates are in the the 3 percent range.
"Anytime there is instability, federal and mortgage rates fluctuate up and down," said Scherer.
At the onset of a slowed economy, that's exactly what was happening in the housing market. Scherer was able to help many homeowners like Matt Brockman get locked in not only at lower rates, but also have the term of their loan shortened.
"We went from a 30-year mortgage to a 20-year and our payment actually went down," said Brockman.
Now, almost two months into the pandemic, Scherer says the market has stabilized a bit and rates are favorable for buyers.
"It's definitely a time if you're interested in refinancing, if you're interest rate is a little bit higher than you'd like it to be, anything at the market now is lower, it's a great time to either save money on your monthly payment. Which I've seen clients do," Scherer said.
Even though COVID-19 has made refinancing favorable with clients, it has also negatively impacted the housing market when it comes to selling.
"They've taken their listing off the market or have become hesitant, simply because they don't want people coming into their house during this time," Scherer said.
For more information on refinancing visit, https://mortgagebanker.bokf.com/texas/cscherer/
