The Real Estate Market on Oahu has been fairly stable. As residential mortgage interest rates have moved up, home prices have dipped a bit. The US Government took over Mortgage Giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac two days ago in an effort to stabilize the country's real estate market. What took many of us by surprise was that they lowered mortgage interest rate by nearly a 1/2 point!
For homebuyers with good credit, with FICO scores in the 700's, 30 year Fixed Rate Mortgages are available again at 6% with 0 points! Combine this with the large amount of homes on the market and you have a winning combination!
My favorite mortgage broker called me with the great news yesterday afternoon and I wanted to pass it along. Tana Feeley is a VP at Central Pacific HomeLoans and she is one of the best Mortgage Brokers I have ever worked with, and I have worked with many of them. She is the only person I know that might be able to actually return phone calls Faster than me!
The main thing, when you are shopping for a mortgage is that you are comfortable with whomever you are
working with. It is always a good thing to shop around to be sure you are getting the best deal. Compare money out of pocket at closing and monthly payments. Don't look too hard at the Interest Rate because many companies stick in various charges and fees that will actually increase your monthly payments.
Have a great day.
Cheers- Mike
Another thing to think about is when shopping around, use the APR rather than the interest rate. The APR shows the total cost of the getting the loan. You are correct in advising not to look only the interest rate.