Good News for Georgia Home Owners: Low Rates Encourage Refinance Applications

Many Georgia home owners have been discouraged from applying for Home Equity Loans due to an uncertain economy and more stringent lending guidelines recently adopted by most banks. The word on the street was the nobody could get a loan, so why bother trying.

But this week’s lending news was good as reported by Atlanta Biz Journal and Atlanta Journal Constitution: Lending activity is up slightly, due to a surge in mortgage refinancing applications last week  which seems to have created a bump in lending activity, with mortgage rates holding below the 4.5% level.  Applications for refinancing jumped more than 30% this week to their highest levels of the year, and over the past month, refinance application volume has risen by 63%, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

If this trend continues to hold, many more Georgia home owners might be encouraged to  seek those refinance loans they have been putting off.  It was widely reported that the average interest rate on a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage fell to 4.3% this week, down nearly 1 whole point from 4.39%, according to Freddie Mac. The lowest rate recorded by the company's primary mortgage market survey was 4.23% in October. 

Will lending trend up in the coming months? Could the the rise in applications translate into a higher lending volume? Some industry expert have a positive outlook., citing the reports that three out of four mortgage applications are currently getting approved.

Got a question? Contact me at elva@BransonLee.com 

Elva Branson-Lee -- Short Sale Specialist, CDPE Advanced

Solid Source Realty GA

Serving the south-east metro Atlanta communities, including Henry County, South Dekalb County, South Fulton County, East Atlanta and Clayton County