Hawai'i mortgage rates below 7%, a 52-week low
By John Duchemin
Advertiser Staff Writer
Mortgage rates in Hawai'i have dropped to a 52-week low as banks nationwide cut long-term interest rates.
Advertiser library photo • March 2000
The average annual percentage rate in Honolulu dropped to 6.14 percent on Wednesday for a 15-year mortgage, down from 7.51 percent a year ago, according to an Advertiser analysis of Honolulu Board of Realtors data. For 30-year loans, the average rate Wednesday was 6.56 percent, down from 7.77 percent.
The average annual percentage rate on a 15-year mortgage for a Honolulu home has fallen from 7.51 percent to 6.14 percent, which will add up to a significant savings for home buyers. For 30-year loans, the rate drops to 6.56 percent.
A $300,000, 30-year mortgage at 6.56 percent would cost $1,908 per month — a $245 monthly saving from a 7.77 percent mortgage of 30 years. A 15-year mortgage at 6.14 percent would be $213 cheaper each month than a 7.51 percent, 15-year mortgage.
Several bankers said the lower rates could boost the local housing market, which had recently shown signs of picking up after a dismal decade.
The housing market has been rendered murky by the Sept. 11 terrorist attack; some observers say uncertain consumers could refrain from spending on big-ticket items like houses.
But lower rates are still a good omen for home buyers, said Jon Whittington, Hawai'i manager for Countrywide Home Loans. Homeowners are still refinancing their mortgages to lock in the lower rates, he said.
"We're waiting to see what happens to the purchase market — consumer confidence has a lot to do with that — but on refinance side, it's all about cash flow, and we've continued to see activity," Whittington said.
Nationally, mortgage rates fell to 6.72 percent for a 30-year mortgage, the lowest level in three years, according to mortgage-buying bank Freddie Mac.
The average rate on a 15-year mortgage, a popular refinancing option, fell to 6.23 percent, the lowest since October 1998, from 6.39 percent the previous week. The average for a one-year adjustable mortgage declined to 5.45 percent from 5.58 percent.
"Ultimately, lower mortgage rates should keep the housing industry healthy, offsetting some of the weakness in the national economy," said Robert Van Order, chief economist at Freddie Mac.
The survey measures the national average commitment rate for 80 percent loan-to-value mortgage loans during a one-week period. The national rates do not include add-on fees known as points, which averaged around 1 percent of the loan amount for all mortgages. The Hawai'i rates calculated include points.
Bloomberg News contributed to this report.
