Teaser Rates
Every week we hear about historically low rates on home loans. 30-year fixed loans are available with interest rates well below 5%, and they’re still going lower! 15 and 20-year loans offer even lower rates. Interest rates like these would have home buyers lining up to buy any available real estate in any other market. But now very few people are taking advantage of these low home mortgage rates. Why is that?
The biggest problem is that a lot of homeowners are upside down on their mortgages. Property values have fallen significantly in the last few years. Homeowners who bought their houses when values were higher now owe more than their homes are worth. Even those who bought their homes several years ago are now under water because they took out cash when they refinanced their homes or got second mortgages.
The maximum loan amount is typicallly a percentage of a home’s current value – current value being the key word. The thousands of people who owe more than their homes are worth can’t pay off their old loan with the proceeds from a new loan. That’s true for a refinance or for selling one house and buying another. So even if they are well qualified borrowers, unless they can come up with the cash for the shortfall, they’re stuck.
In this economy the unemployment rate is high, but as concerning is the length of time it has been so high. Many homeowners have been out of work for an extended period of time. There are also a lot of people who are working jobs that are far below their qualifications – and pay less – or working part time jobs. Somehow many of these people are making ends meet in spite of the challenges. They’ve cut back on spending, stay-at-home moms have gone back to work, and they’ve started their own businesses. But they can’t show sufficient income to prove to a lender that they can make a lower mortgage payment than the one they’re making now. Changes in employment make it difficult to qualify for a loan even if the income is sufficient. Most lenders want to see two years of employment in the same field to consider a buyer stable. Contract work is not considered stable until it has a two year history, even if the work is in the same field that the person was originally employed in.
Lending standards have risen. The huge number of defaults can be traced back to lending practices that were too lenient. So banks have tightened up their requirements. Requirements for debt ratios and credit scores are much stricter than they were even years ago. The chances that a homeowner has a lot of cash in the bank and nearly perfect credit, after surviving employment problems, falling home values and other challenges, is slim.
First time buyers face all of these problems, except for being upside down on their mortgages. There are not many first time buyers out there with great credit, a hefty down payment and sufficient verifiable income. Many of those that can buy a home now are worried that home prices will decline further and/or that they’ll lose their jobs. Buying your first home is a scary experience. The current economic conditions don’t make it easy to take that risk.
So those tantalizing interest rates that we keep hearing about in the news remain just out of reach. Something that’s technically true, but simultaneously too good to be true.
If you are one of those in a position to buy a new home in San Diego, this is the time to do it. Once the market turns around, interest rates will rise quickly. New homes Carlsbad