Last week Yahoo’s Finance page led with a commentary that posed the question, “Why Aren’t Homeowners Taking Advantage of Low Mortgage Rates?” Although the premise (“mortgage rates have plunged back to the lowest levels in at least half a century”) may have been slightly overblown, St. Cloud home loan shoppers could indeed have found published rates that were at bargain-basement levels.

The author, Doug Whiteman (the editor-in-chief of MoneyWise), calculated that, at end-of-March rates, 11 million U.S. homeowners could have saved at least $3,200 per year by refinancing. Even though many existing St. Cloud home loans already reflect low rates, with last week’s national 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaging 3.33%, you’d think refinance lenders would be doing land-office business. Yet last week’s Mortgage News Daily reported that refinance applications had dropped by 19%.

So, why weren’t borrowers stampeding to take advantage? The reasons may not be tied to financial or technical issues at all. Although Whiteman never really got around to directly address the question about why homeowners are “overlooking falling mortgage rates,” it could be as simple as a one-word answer: “distractions.”

With pandemic news clogging the airways and economists unable to clarify the direction of the business outlook—even in the near term—it wouldn’t take a leap of logic to pin any lack of St. Cloud home loan activity on all the other demands being made on local homeowners’ attention. It might well explain Yahoo’s accusation that “homeowners are snoozing and losing.”

St. Cloud’s usual high-intensity peak real estate season could fall victim to the same phenomenon—added to the natural human tendency to postpone major decisions until turbulent times subside. Even so, for area homeowners (and home shoppers), the mortgage opportunities are real—no matter how overshadowed by events they may be. Call me for a professional’s undistracted evaluation of the current St. Cloud real estate landscape!

Providing a superior level of informed, professional real estate services to buyers and sellers throughout Central Minnesota. We have agents specializing in residential, commercial, multifamily, new construction, existing, investment properties, foreclosures/REO, and short sales with offices located in:

Five Office Locations To Serve YOU!

Saint Cloud 320-259-4554
Princeton 320-983-3555
Maple Grove 763-565-2000
Hutchinson 320-455-9127
Litchfield 320-298-1140

Premier Real Estate specializes MANY areas around Central MN including Saint Cloud, Waite Park, Rice, Royalton, Sartell, Royalton, Little Falls, Cold Spring, Saint Joseph, Elk River, Monticello, Ramsey, Saint Michael, Andover, Ham Lake, Anoka, Champlin, Buffalo, Glencoe, Brownton, Silver Lake, Kandiyohi, Dassel, Minneapolis, Maple Grove, Saint Louis Park, Saint Paul, Robbinsdale, Crystal, New Hope, Brooklyn Center and more!