Low Interest Rates Continue to Fuel Housing

By Gino Blefari, President & CEO, Intero Real Estate Services, Inc.

Remember earlier this year when interest rates started to rise and everyone worried that it spelled the end of the housing recovery? As interest rates have crept up for long-term mortgages throughout much of the summer, many have speculated the impact on home buying as inevitably negative.

 However, we're not seeing much evidence to support that.

Mortgage rates have continued to be really attractive throughout the year, with rates on the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaging 4.32% in Freddie Mac's survey last week, down from 4.5% the previous week. It marked the lowest level for rates since the week ending July 25.

Although rates on long-term mortgages are still higher than they stood a year ago, it's amazing how low they've remained and how it has yet to completely derail buying activity, as some expected.