Homeowners Report on RefinancingMortgagePress.comRefinancing, Statistics, Interest Rates, Payments
Mortgage rates may be the lowest they have been in 40 years, but
according to a recent survey conducted by InsightExpress, these low
rates, while indeed primary, are not the only reason for homeowner
refinancing. A survey of 500 homeowners revealed that more than
one-third of the group is likely to refinance in the near term,
although nearly half of this percentage has gone through the
paperwork-intensive process at least once before. For those
considering, other key deciding factors are being weighed,
including the desire to lay out as little cash as possible in the
process.
A variety of factors were cited by survey participants as being
important to their refinancing decisions:
Refinancing: Reasons Considered Extremely
Important
Lower Interest Rate: 85 percent
No-Cost/Low-Cost Closing: 72 percent
Fixed-Rate Commitment: 66 percent
No Point Commitment/Requirement: 61 percent
Lender Reputation: 53 percent
Local Presence of Loan Backer or Mortgage Company: 26 percent
Many participants cited a reduction of monthly payments and
consolidation of loans and debt as primary motivating factors for
refinancing. However, additional concerns come into play:
Refinancing: Reasons Considered Primary
Reduce Monthly Payments: 54 percent
Consolidate Loans and Debt: 18 percent
Reduce Loan Term: 15 percent
Utilize Equity for Home Improvements: 11 percent
Utilize Equity to Fund Education: 2 percent
When seeking refinancing information, 48 percent of all
participants turned to traditional financial service institutions,
25 percent turned to Mortgage Brokers and 21 percent turned to
online brokers, 17 percent used either the newspaper or an online
news source for information, and a final 15 percent used an online
mortgage information portal.
