Until about three months ago, it was basically unthinkable that interest rates would ever fall below their record low of 3.31%, which was set in November 2012. But then the coronavirus happened.
And as the virus was wreaking havoc on the world and its economy, interest rates not only broke that record; they’ve since settled comfortably below the previous all-time record level and stayed under 3.3% for three straight weeks.
But is it possible that interest rates are on the verge of falling to levels no one ever thought they’d see: under 3%? The short answer: Absolutely.
In fact, one of the biggest lenders in the country is already offering interest rates as low as 2.5% to certain borrowers.
Last week, United Wholesale Mortgage made national news when it announced that it would be offering interest rates as low as 2.5%. Never before had a lender as big as UWM, the country’s biggest purchase mortgage lender and largest wholesale lender, offered rates that low.
Given that, the program made waves both inside and outside of the mortgage business.
Some mortgage brokers quickly and vociferously stated that UWM’s announcement was nothing more than empty words, suggesting that borrowers wouldn’t be able to get the low rates that UWM was touting.
Several mortgage professionals told HousingWire that UWM’s mortgage rate sheet (the information provided by the lender with details on its lending programs) stated that in order to get a rate as low as 2.5%, borrowers would have to fork over thousands of dollars in fees (perhaps more than 2% of the overall loan amount) beyond whatever money they were planning to use for their down payment.
But, as one prominent broker told HousingWire, it basically comes down to whether a borrower wants to do that or not. Those fees could certainly be added into the mortgage itself and financed over time.
Put simply, it comes down to how much a borrower really wants to get a 2.5% interest rate and how much they’re willing to pay to get it. And according to some in the mortgage business, UWM’s program was far more than empty words. “We are gonna close the hell out of these loans, it’s a fantastic product,” one broker told HousingWire.
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