By Mark Scott, Founder & President
Commercial Mortgage Capital
There is has been a rapid rise in rates over the past three weeks.
While many people are saying that rates will decline again, a number of Federal Reserve presidents are saying that they may raise rates as soon as this coming July, or September.
As a result, now is the time to prepare to refinance any loans on the next 18 month horizon.
If rates decline, you can jump in and lock at these low levels. If rates continue to rise, you can be prepared to lock the rate when you feel ready. Once rates start rising, lenders will be swamped with deals and pipelines and delays will grow.
Rate locks will be delayed as mortgage bankers scurry to underwrite loans. Then, most importantly, secure the attention of the lender to focus on, and issue a quote and an application in order to lock a rate. All this takes time. Be ready.
Indeed, Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen seems to be setting the stage for rate hikes this year. She noted in her Semiannual Monetary Policy Report to the Congress that if economic conditions continue to improve, as the Committee anticipates, the Committee will at some point begin considering an increase in the target range for the federal funds rate on a meeting-by-meeting basis. Before then, the Committee will change its forward guidance.
However, Ms. Yellen stated, “It is important to emphasize that a modification of the forward guidance should not be read as indicating that the Committee will necessarily increase the target range in a couple of meetings.
“Instead the modification should be understood as reflecting the Committee’s judgment that conditions have improved to the point where it will soon be the case that a change in the target range could be warranted at any meeting.
“Provided that labor market conditions continue to improve and further improvement is expected, the Committee anticipates that it will be appropriate to raise the target range for the federal funds rate when, on the basis of incoming data, the Committee is reasonably confident that inflation will move back over the medium term toward our two percent objective.”
Though we can expect to see more transactions in 2015, there is still a level of uncertainty in the market, combined with continued confusion about the fate of interest rates.
As a result, now is the time for borrower’s to lock in today’s low rates with a seasoned mortgage professional.
