Mortgage-interest rates skirting 5 percent are creating a home-loan-refinancing frenzy the likes of which Central Florida mortgage brokers have not seen for five years.
Veteran mortgage broker Howard Howland, president of Contemporary Mortgage Services in Altamonte Springs, is adding to his staff of 28 and making room in his Seminole County office for more employees whom he expects to hire after the first of the year.
“The last two or three years have been a real struggle,” said Howland, who has been in the mortgage-banking and brokerage business at the same location for 20 years. “But I’ve been telling people that when it breaks, it will be the mother of all refis. This may be it.”
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages fell last week to 5.18 percent from 5.44 percent, for 80 percent loan-to-value-ratio loans, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported. For 15-year loans, the average interest rate fell to 4.93 percent from 5.08 percent.
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