Refinance Mortgage Rates
The phrase “Your results may vary” applies perfectly to mortgage interest rates. When you see a rate online, it gives you an indication of where rates stand today, but individual mortgage rates are influenced by a wide variety of factors.
Your refinance mortgage interest rate is affected by:
- Your credit score
- The percentage of your home’s value that you want to borrow
- The property type (primary residence, second home, investment property)
- The home type (such as a condo or manufactured home)
What factors affect refinance mortgage rates today?
The length of your loan and the type of loan you take out have a major impact on your loan rate:
- Shorter-term loans have lower mortgage rates than longer-term loans (15 years vs. 30 years, for example)
- An adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) has lower initial rates than a fixed-rate mortgage, but adjust with market conditions once the initial rate period ends
- FHA, VA, and USDA loans tend to have lower rates than conventional loans because they’re backed by the government, but they come with additional costs, such as the USDA guarantee and annual fees, the VA funding fee (waived in certain circumstances), and the FHA upfront (UFMIP) and monthly (MIP) mortgage insurance premiums
- Cash-out refinances have higher rates than rate-and-term refinances because you’ll have a larger loan balance and a smaller equity cushion
Refinance vs. purchase interest rates – what’s the difference?
You might think home purchase mortgage rates and mortgage refinance interest rates would be the same. Guess what? They’re usually different, with certain refinance mortgage interest rates being a bit higher.
Why? Lenders are concerned with risk.
The amount of equity you have in your home makes a difference, so if you’re only refinancing the rate or term of your loan, then your risk doesn’t change as much as if you’re taking money out and raising your loan balance. That makes the rate on a cash-out refinance a little higher.
Refinance tools and resources
How to start the mortgage refinance process
There are so many reasons to refinance, and so many different types of refinance loans, it’s hard to sort through them to find the option that’s right for you. Just like when you want to buy a home, our best advice is to start by talking to your loan originator. Luckily, we’re just a call, email, or click away.
