Buying A Home? Mortgage Rates Still Low; Increasing Soon

Are you in the market to buy a home in the near future? If the Federal Reserve raises interest rates, will that affect your decision to obtain a home loan and buy a house in 2015?

As the Federal Reserve signals it’s intention to raise interest rates, borrowers are scrambling to get deals done now. There’s been a big influx of home loan applications in 2015, driven by people looking to either buy a home or refinance their current home in order to lock in lower interest rates.

On average, a 30-year home mortgage loan fetches a 3.8% interest rate now, according to Freddie Mac. That number is down from a year ago when interest rates were closer to 4.3%. The Federal Reserve cut rates to historic lows in 2008 in part to reset the housing market, which collapsed when the housing bubble burst.

With the Federal Reserve likely to raise interest rates this year, it will force a mortgage rate hike, experts say. That said, it’s uncertain if that will cause a decrease in home sales in the U.S. housing market.