Low mortgage rates bringing in borrowers

The low mortgage rates, which are hovering around 5% for 30 years, are finally starting to bring in more homebuyers and refinancers. Teresa Breaux, president of IberiaBank mortgage, says during the first quarter, the mortgage volume was up 56% over the first three months of 2008. “We’ve had record production months every month this year, and March was the largest of all, ” she says. While much of the activity has been on the refinance side, where borrowers with good credit are able to take years off of their payments, Breaux says purchases are picking up. “More people are making the decision to move up,” she says. Walter Kelly with Whitney National Bank says refinancing business has “been very busy now that rates are at a 50-year low.” Lenders are tightening up on borrowers who have dings on their credit scores, but Breaux says the most common thing is lenders making pricing adjustments to borrowers who don’t have perfect credit. She expects rates will remain low through 2009, and her office to remain busy loaning money for homes. “April and May are going to be no different than this month,” Breaux says.—Timothy Boone