The past year has been a good one for home values in the US. Values of homes across the country have finally begun increasing after going into a free fall in 2007. Increasing home values is not necessarily great news for home buyers but it is terrific news for folks who would like to refinance to a lower interest rate. Homeowners who currently have mortgage insurance (pmi) with their mortgage stand to benefit the most from rising home values. When a homeowner has at least 20% equity in their homes they can refinance into a conventional Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac mortgage with no mortgage insurance. It behooves anyone who has mortgage insurance now — including folks with FHA loans — to investigate the current value of their home and see if they can refinance and drop their PMI entirely.
Contact us in the sidebar to get more information on the current value of your home. Our counselors have several tools that help them estimate the current value of homes. In some cases values have increased enough to allow borrowers with mortgage insurance to refinance and drop that pmi. Dropping pmi and lowering interest rates can lead to big monthly savings for families.