Tom Kalinski, RE/MAX of Boulder
With an average mortgage interest rate of 3.33 percent, homeowners are rushing to join the refinance boom – even in the face of the pandemic uncertainties.
And lucky homeowners in some metros – like Denver – could save a lot more than others. The Denver area is No. 7 on the list of metros nationwide where homeowners will save the most money – an average of $159 in savings each month, according to Realtor.com.
To determine where homeowners can save the most by refinancing their loans, Realtor.com data experts compiled a list of metros that offer the highest monthly savings, after fees.
Only one metro per state was selected – otherwise California markets would have filled the first five slots on the list. Even so, there’s commonality among metros listed: each has experienced significant price appreciation recently.
This holds true for the Rocky Mountain regional city of Denver – ranked No. 7 – and nearby No. 10-ranked Salt Lake City. Both have seen an increase in home prices and population in recent years. In Denver, home values rose 58 percent over the past few years and the city of Denver’s population grew nearly 20 percent in the past decade, reports
Realtor.com. The population growth fueled housing demand, which resulted in rising prices and full-price sales.
In neighboring Utah, Salt Lake City’s population grew 7.6 percent over the same period and home prices have risen 33 percent in the past three years. The state of Utah currently has the highest refinance approval rate in the country.
Here’s the list of where homeowners can save the most:
San Jose, CA ($376 in average monthly savings)
• Honolulu, HI ($225)
• Seattle, WA ($191)
• Boston, MA ($155)
• Washington, DC ($173)
• New York, NY ($167)
• Denver, CO ($159)
• Portland, OR ($155)
• Bridgeport, CT ($148)
• Salt Lake City, UT ($135)
Since the beginning of the year, millions of homeowners have rushed to refinance with historically low mortgage rates. Though mortgage rates rose after the initial pandemic economic shock, they have settled once again. Along with so many aspects of life during the pandemic, mortgage rates have been on a wild ride for the last two months.
Currently, the expectation is for interest rates to remain low and possibly drop further. The Mortgage Bankers Association anticipates rates will remain around 3.2 to 3.3 percent for the next several months, ticking up slightly to 3.5 percent by the end of the year.
Experts say mortgage lenders – unable to keep up with the demand – sometimes try to slow the flow of refinancing requests by raising rates. For this reason, it’s important to shop around.
For the full story, see: realtor.com/news/trends/where-homeowners-could-save-the-most-by-refinancing.
By Tom Kalinski. Tom is the broker/owner of RE/MAX of Boulder, the local residential real estate company he established in 1977. He was inducted into Boulder County’s Business Hall of Fame in 2016 and has a 40-year background in commercial and residential real estate. For questions, e-mail Tom at [email protected], call 303.441.5620 or visit boulderco.com.
