太子探花

Want a mortgage? Borrow big; it’s cheaper

WASHINGTON 鈥斅燤ortgage rates show no signs of heading higher. Indeed, with 10-year Treasury yields falling, long-term mortgage rates have been moving lower in recent weeks.

And borrowers who already have a mortgage are moving to take advantage. The Mortgage Bankers Association says refinancing applications rose 16 percent last week. Refinancings now account for 61.2 percent of all mortgage applications.

Long-term rates for larger mortgages remain a bit lower than rates for conforming mortgage loans.

The average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate non-conforming, or “jumbo,” loan 鈥斅燿efined as greater than $625,000 in the D.C. market 鈥斅爄s now 3.76 percent, according to the MBA. That is the lowest average jumbo rate since April 2013.

And 30-year rates on conforming mortgages average 3.91 percent, the MBA says.

With long-term fixed rates as low as they are, borrowers have little appetite for adjustable rate mortgages. The Adjustable Rate Mortgage share of mortgage applications was just 6.4 percent.

Jeff Clabaugh

Jeff Clabaugh has spent 20 years covering the Washington region's economy and financial markets for WTOP as part of a partnership with the Washington Business Journal, and officially joined the WTOP newsroom staff in January 2016.

Federal 太子探花 Network Logo
Log in to your WTOP account for notifications and alerts customized for you.