Mortgage Minute: A year in review

It is hard to believe that one year has passed since this first Mortgage Minute article came out. It has been fun working this up every month. I would like to thank those who encouraged me to write the article, those who provided ideas, and those who have helped review and fine tune each article that has come out.

Back in March of 2023, there was optimism that mortgage rates would drop from the average 30-year rate of 6.85% that was prevalent at that time. A quote that I had in that first article from bankrate.com stated “Depending on what the 10-year Treasury does in the coming days, we might even go below 6,” Fleming says. ‘There is a good chance that mortgage rates will continue to decline.” (Ostrowski, Jeff. “As Economy Stays Strong, Mortgage Rates Rise.” Bankrate, https://www.bankrate.com/mortgages/analysis/.)

Fast forward one year later and a lot of the sentiments from March of 2023 would be fairly accurate to today. Here we are in March of 2024 and per bankrate.com the average 30-year rate is currently at 7.00%. This rate is slightly above where rates were last year at this time, however, there is still hope that rates will start dropping. Greg McBride, CFA, chief financial analyst for Bankrate says “Signs of continued economic strength will keep mortgage rates above 7 percent early in the month (March) but some better news on inflation will see mortgage rates dipping below 7 percent by month (March) end.”

(Ostrowski, Jeff. “Mortgage rate forecast for March 2024: Rates retreat in time for spring.” Bankrate, https://www.bankrate.com/mortgages/mortgage-interest-rates-forecast/.)

Although rates still seem to be up slightly, there have been a few occasions over the last few weeks that we have seen rates below 7 percent. Sometimes, getting those lower rates comes down to talking with your lender and capitalizing on those days when the rates are a bit lower.

Michael Scharfe has been a lender at First Security Bank for 10 years. Reach him at [email protected].