Hurricane Harvey caused a significant amount of devastation in southeastern Texas and southern Louisiana. Our hearts continue to go out to these families. Repairing the devastation will go on for years. Understanding how this affects mortgage rates is imperative as you look to buy a home.
Where You Impacted by the Hurricane?
If you were directly impacted by the hurricane, there might be options to help you with your mortgage payments. Mortgage lenders might help you with financial relief by freezing a foreclosure, placing your mortgage payments on hold, or offering some other financial assistance, especially if you need to rebuild a damaged home.
You will need to explore financial relief programs. It’s also vital not to fall for one of the major scams.
Current Mortgage Rates
The mortgage rates currently available are already low when compared to what they have been over the past several years.
It’s important to understand what impacts mortgage rates:
- supply and demand
- the health of the economy
- secondary market
The mortgage rates fell slightly after the hurricane. The good news is that it allows borrowers around the nation to be able to afford a mortgage. Further, Harvey victims will be able to get more affordable funding as they work on rebuilding.
The mortgage rates will continue to change as it becomes clearer as to how many homes were damaged by the hurricane. It’s still too early to understand the full level of devastation.
The cost of building supplies will increase over the next year because there is going to be a limited supply. The demand will be greater, thus driving the price up for lumber, drywall, flooring, and other building supplies as homes and companies look to rebuild and repair their properties.
While the mortgage rates are low and have dropped lower since Hurricane Harvey hit Texas, they may continue to fluctuate. It will be easier to see the total impact of mortgage rates on the United States once the total level of damages has been identified.
