Current Mortgage Rates

For the past few months, the very poor and turbulent economy has had many negative effects on the financial lives of millions of people across the country. While the poor economy has led to higher rates of unemployment and declines in the stock markets, one benefit of it has been that the government has been forced to keep key interest rates at very low levels. Because of this, interest mortgage rates have stayed extremely low, which makes now one of the best times ever to refinance an existing mortgage or purchase a home and take out a new mortgage.

For those people in the state of Oregon, refinancing an existing mortgage could be a great idea. For qualified borrowers, Oregon mortgage rates are near historic lows for both 30-year and 15-year fixed rate mortgages. Those who only plan on keeping their loan for a short period of time could save even more money by taking out an adjustable rate mortgage.

While Oregon mortgage rates are at historic lows, borrowers should expect having to deal with various challenges in order to qualify for the lowest advertised rates. One of the biggest challenges facing potential borrowers looking to take advantage of the historically low interest mortgage rates is having enough equity in their homes.

Similar to all of the other states across the country, housing prices in markets across Oregon have declined in value. For someone who has purchased a home in the last 5 to 10 years, this could mean that they have negative equity in their home. Unfortunately, most banks now require that a borrower have at least 10% equity in their home in order to qualify for a refinance. This means that many potential borrowers will need to bring a sizable amount of money to closing in order to qualify for the refinance.

Another challenge facing many borrowers is that they will have to have a good credit score to qualify for a mortgage refinance. One negative effect of the economic downturn has been that many people have struggled to make their monthly financial obligations. For those people who have been late on bill payments, qualifying for a loan may be difficult if their credit score has declined. Most mortgage lenders today prefer that their borrowers have a credit score of 740 or more in order to qualify for the lowest rates that are advertised.