Is 7 a high interest rate for a house?
Here's why 7% mortgage rates are so much worse for buyers now than 20 years ago. Mortgage rates haven't been this high for over two decades, but it's far worse to be a homebuyer now than then. Buyers are still sticker-shocked by the memory of historically low rates when they could afford so much more two years ago.
Compared to where rates were just a couple of years ago, a 7% mortgage rate is extremely high. But now, many borrowers who got their mortgage in the last year likely have rates of 7% or higher. Depending on your score, you may get a rate in the 7% range right now.
Top-tier borrowers could see mortgage rates in the high-6% range, while lower-credit and non-QM borrowers could expect rates well above 7%. Of course, mortgage rates are famously volatile and it's possible a good mortgage rate next year might be substantially higher than what it is today.
An interest rate of 7 percent means that for every 100 units of currency (e.g., dollars, euros, etc.) you have invested or borrowed, you will earn or owe 7 units of currency as interest. It is typically expressed as an annual percentage rate (APR), which means the interest is calculated over a one-year period.
As mortgage rates inch lower towards the 6% mark, the real estate market is cooling. Still, many homeowners still have low interest rates compared to the 6.66% they fell to last week. In fact, nearly 89% of borrowers have an interest rate below 6%, a Redfin study reports.
On Friday, April 05, 2024, the national average 30-year fixed mortgage APR is 7.00%. The average 15-year fixed mortgage APR is 6.42%, according to Bankrate's latest survey of the nation's largest mortgage lenders.
The difference between a slightly more than 3% mortgage rate and a 7% mortgage rate adds roughly an additional $1,000 mortgage payment to a typical, new median-priced single-family home and prices 18 million U.S. households out of the market for the home.
Near the end of October 2022, the 30-year mortgage rate jumped from 6.94% to 7.08%, according to Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac. Prior to that, the last time the average mortgage rate hovered around 7% was in April of 2002.
Mortgage giant Fannie Mae likewise raised its outlook, now expecting 30-year mortgage rates to be at 6.4 percent by the end of 2024, compared to an earlier forecast of 5.8 percent.
Some 88.5 percent have a mortgage rate below 6 percent, down from a high of 92.8 percent of homeowners in in the second quarter of 2022, the report found. More than three-quarters of homeowners — 78.7 percent — have a mortgage rate below 5 percent, while nearly 6 in 10 — 59.4 percent — have a mortgage below 4 percent.
What 7% means for home buyers?
Focus on the monthly payments
For example, financing a $440,000 home with a 20% down payment at a 7% mortgage rate would mean a monthly mortgage payment of roughly $2,300, while a 6% mortgage rate would save a buyer about $200 a month, she said.
As mortgage rates hit 8%, home 'affordability is incredibly difficult,' economist says. The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate hit 8% for the first time since 2000. Homebuyers must earn $114,627 to afford a median-priced house in the U.S., according to a recent report by Redfin, a real estate firm.
At a 7.00% fixed interest rate, your monthly payment on a 30-year $200,0000 mortgage might total $1,331 a month, while a 15-year might cost $1,798 a month.
The Fed's latest projections materials show that three rate cuts are still expected in 2024, bringing the rate down by three-quarters of a percentage point by the end of the year.
30-year mortgage rates are currently expected to fall to somewhere between 6.1% and 6.4% in 2024. Instead of waiting for rates to drop, homebuyers should consider buying now and refinancing later to avoid increased competition next year.
We expect mortgage rates to dip below 6 percent by year-end 2024 and for homebuilders to continue to add new supply, both of which should aid affordability. Additionally, the decline in mortgage rates is likely to push refinancing volumes upward, along with some pickup in purchase financing.
“Mortgage rates will decline over the course of the next two to three years as the rate of inflation declines and hopefully gets to the Fed target of 2%,” Cohn says. “Mortgage rates will be at least a full 2% lower by 2025.”
Increasing your income, paying down debts, and boosting your credit score can all help lower your risk as a borrower and qualify you for a lower mortgage rate. You can also save up for a larger down payment, as it means the lender has less cash on the line. "Mortgage pricing is all about risk," Sanford says.
“Since the start of 2024, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage has not reached 7% but has not dropped below 6.6% either,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac's chief economist. “While incoming economic signals indicate lower rates of inflation, we do not expect rates will decrease meaningfully in the near-term.
The bottom line
Sure, mortgage rates could fall to 3% at some point, but chances are that's not going to happen anytime soon. Moreover, waiting for rates to drop before you buy your home could backfire. Instead, consider buying your house now and refinancing your mortgage when rates improve.
Will mortgage rates go back down to 3 percent?
By reducing its bond purchases, the Fed will reduce the supply of money in the market and put upward pressure on long-term interest rates, such as mortgage rates. Therefore, unless inflation slows down significantly in the coming months, it is unlikely that mortgage rates will fall back to 3% anytime soon.
Generally speaking, you'll likely need a score of at least 620 — what's classified as a “fair” rating — to qualify with most lenders. With a Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loan, though, you might be able to get approved with a score as low as 500.
The average 30-year fixed rate reached an all-time record low of 2.65% in January 2021 before surging to 7.79% in October 2023, according to Freddie Mac.
| Product | Today | Last Week |
|---|---|---|
| 30 Year Fixed Average | 6.57% | 6.47% |
| Conforming | 6.76% | 6.65% |
| FHA | 5.85% | 5.84% |
| Jumbo | 4.00% | 4.02% |
When inflation is running high, the Fed raises those short-term rates to slow the economy and reduce pressure on prices. But higher interest rates make it more expensive for banks to borrow, so they raise their rates on consumer loans, including mortgages, to compensate.
