Record low rates fuel new refinancing wave Sioux City Journal
SIOUX CITY -- Five years ago, John and Kerry Patterson started talking about remodeling their home on Sioux City's northside.
The couple postponed those plans because of worries about high borrowing costs. At the time, interest rates topped 6 percent.
"In our case, waiting paid off," said John Patterson, who works for Verizon Communications.
This month, the Pattersons closed on a 20-year fixed mortgage at 3.75 percent at Great Southern Bank. The new loan consolidated the balances on their existing mortgage, a car loan and a home equity loan. The latter financed their long-awaited home improvement project, completed this spring, which added 880 square feet of living space, and remodeled the original 1,100 square feet.
With the lower rate, the couple cut their total monthly payments by 10 percent, he said.
Siouxland lenders report a wave of home loans and refinancing as owners tap into interest rates that have never been lower.
Two weeks ago, the average national rate for a 30-year-fixed loan fell to an all-time low of 3.94 percent, according to the government mortgage company Freddie Mac. The weekly average on a 15-year-fixed loan, a popular refinancing option, dropped to 3.26 percent, also a record.
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