Many homeowners want to refinance existing mortgages to take advantage of record-low interest rates.
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Mortgage rates have been hitting record lows during the economic downturn and could fall even further. Lenders have responded to the increased economic uncertainty by raising minimum credit scores, requiring higher down payments, checking and rechecking employment status and eliminating certain loans altogether.
LendingTree, an online lending marketplace, analyzed data from loans being offered to borrowers to understand the current state of interest rates, looking at everything from mortgage to personal loans to uncover just how low interest rates are now.
The report revealed that the average lowest mortgage rate being offered to borrowers with credit scores between 720-759 is 3.46%. The implied savings for a $250,000, 360-month mortgage at that rate is $50,148.
For borrowers with credit scores between 640-679, the lowest mortgage rates being offered is 3.87% with an implied savings of $48,699.
When it comes to refinancing a mortgage, for those with credit scores 760 and higher, the average lowest rate is 3.23%.
Below are the average differences, or spreads, between the highest (most expensive) and lowest (least expensive or best) annual percentage rates (APRs) offered to the same borrowers across loan types and credit score ranges on LendingTree’s platform in the previous calendar month.
For every loan inquiry that received at least one offer from a lender, analysts calculated the spread between the lowest and highest APRs offered to each prospective borrower. Lowest, highest and the spread were averaged across credit score ranges for each loan type.
Regarding the credit score range of less than 640 and the average lowest offer of 3.15%, Kali McFadden, senior research analyst at LendingTree, explained: “Very few people with scores that low would qualify for a mortgage at all, so the few who do must be bringing something pretty exceptional to the table.”