A Good Time To Buy A North Atlanta Home Is Now!

A Good Time To Buy A North Atlanta Home Is Now!

A good time to buy a North Atlanta home is now!  By The Mary Ellen Vanaken Team 678.929.6529

The average U.S. mortgage rates started 2015 by falling to new lows, with the 30-year rate marking its lowest level since May 2013.

According to Freddie Mac, this first week of January found the nationwide average rate on the 30-year loan fall to 3.73 percent from 3.87 percent last week. The average for a 15-year mortgage also fell to 3.05 percent from 3.15 percent last week.

A year ago, the 30-year mortgage was 4.51 percent and the 15-year mortgage was 3.56 percent.

A good time to buy a North Atlanta home is now! 





As you get ready to buy a new home keep in mind how much home you can afford. Deciding how much house you can afford is determined by your lender. Lenders are careful, but they make qualification decisions based on averages and formulas. They won't understand the nuances of your lifestyle and spending patterns quite as well as you do. So, leave a little room for the unexpected - for all the new opportunities your home will give you to spend money, from furnishings, to landscaping, to repairs.

Historically, banks use a ratio called 28/36 to decide how much borrowers could borrow. An approved housing payment couldn't be more than 28 percent of the buyer's gross monthly income, and his or her total debt load, including car payments, student loans, and credit card payments, couldn't be more than 36 percent. As home prices have risen, some lenders have responded by stretching these ratios to as high as 50 percent. No matter how expensive your market though, we urge you to think carefully before stretching your budget quite so much.

Deciding how much you can afford should involve some careful attention to how your financial profile will change in the upcoming years. In the long run, your own peace of mind and security will matter most.

A good time to buy a North Atlanta home is now, so let's begin your North Atlanta Home Search:

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When you're ready to buy or sell contact The Mary Ellen Vanaken Team of Keller Williams of North Atlanta

5780 Windward Parkway
Suite 100
Alpharetta, Ga 30005
678.929.6529

A good time to buy a North Atlanta home is now!

Mortgage Rates Hit 2014 Low

Mortgage Rates Hit 2014 Low

Mortgage Rates Hit 2014 Low - The Mary Ellen Vanaken Team 

At the start of 2014, there was a lot of speculation that mortgage rates would rise to unaffordable levels, with many expecting to see 30-year fixed mortgage rates exceed 5%. However, luckily for homebuyers, mortgage rates have stayed historically low, with a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage recently hitting its lowest point all year, according to the latest Primary Mortgage Market Survey from Freddie Mac.

Here's what the data showed for the week ending Aug. 21:
 
A 30-year fixed-rate mortgage hit 4.10%, down from 4.12% a week before and 4.58% this time last year.

A 15-year fixed-rate mortgage hit 3.23%, falling from 3.24% on a week-over-week comparison and 3.60% a year prior.

A 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage averaged 2.95%, marking a decrease from 2.97% a week ago and 3.21% on a year-over-year comparison.

"Mortgage rates were down slightly this week, following the decline in 10-year Treasury yields," said Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist at Freddie Mac. "Meanwhile, housing starts in July jumped 15.7% to 1.093 million units after falling 4.0% a month earlier. Also, July's consumer prices increased at a 0.1% seasonally adjusted pace, the slowest in five months.

Renting unaffordable in major cities. A separate report from Zillow, a real estate marketplace, recently highlighted that it's more affordable to purchase a home in 94 of the 100 largest metropolitan areas in the country rather than rent, primarily because mortgage rates remain so low.

"The affordability of for-sale homes remains strong, which is encouraging for those buyers that can save for a down payment and capitalize on low mortgage interest rates," said Zillow Chief Economist Stan Humphries. "But the health of the for-sale market is directly tied to the rental market, where affordability is really suffering."

The report noted that historically low interest rates and continually increasing rent prices have made buying more attractive. HousingWire reported that at the end of the second quarter, homeowners only had to put 15% of their income toward a mortgage, well below 22.1% prior to the housing collapse.

Humphries noted that even if mortgage rates were to hit 5%, they would still be affordable by historical standards. He said this would cause only 13 of the largest metros to become unaffordable for buying (just six metros are currently unaffordable).

As mortgage rates remain low and rents continue to increase, more Americans will be assessing their residential mortgage options.

For more information on mortgage rates and lending contact us today:

The Mary Ellen Vanaken Team

678.866.1935

5780 Windward Parkway

Suite 100

Alpharetta, GA 30005