January 2, 2015
With 2014 now over, many look ahead to the new year’s potential trends for FHA mortgage loan rates and refinance loan rates. But looking ahead also means looking back–what happened at the end of the year is sure to be a factor in figuring out where rates could go in early 2015.
Mortgage rates over 2014 moved within a narrow range, but that range was marked by lower rates–when the FHA best execution rate broke below the four percent range and into the high threes, at first some thought it might just be a flash-in-the-pan move soon overtaken by upward pressure on rates.
But what was potentially a quick dip into the high three percent range (best execution) turned into a downward trend that ended up in a comfort zone of sorts for FHA loan rates and the year closed out at a best execution rate of 3.25%.
That rate persisted even December even on days when conventional rates took a bit of a beating. FHA rates, while tending to vary more among participating lenders than their conventional counterparts, do fall into a comfort zone that requires a bit more significant movement in one day or sustained movement over a period of days to change.
The end of 2014 brought with it an FHA best execution rate that stayed in the low 3 percent range. (Best execution rates are not available to all borrowers or from all lenders. Your experience may vary depending on FICO scores and other financial qualifiers.)
2015’s first trends may be hard to predict at first–the post holiday market activity will likely bring some changes with it. Markets do seem to be more defensive at holiday time, so returning to a normal work week after two weeks of days off and market closure/half days will be interesting to watch after the end-0f-year activity.
Do you have questions about FHA home loans? Ask us in the comments section. All comments are held for review.
Joe Wallace has been specializing in military and personal finance topics since 1995. His work has appeared on Air Force Television News, The Pentagon Channel, ABC and a variety of print and online publications. He is a 13-year Air Force veteran and a member of the Air Force Public Affairs Alumni Association. He was Managing editor for www.valoans.com for (8) years and is currently the Associate Editor for FHANewsblog.com.
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