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Mortgage Rates Creep Lower- How to Optimize Marketing to this Responsive Audience

Posted by Brian Berg Google+

Mortgage brokers and real estate agents regularly use mortgage consumer mailing lists to extend their loan offers to a responsive audience.  To determine the best marketing tactics, brokers and agents must always understand the current market and rates and how these factors play on their respective audiences.  The needs of mortgage consumers are always changing, understanding these changes will help in reaching out to the audiences and increase response to your mortgage marketing campaigns.  The BB Direct blog always aims to offer readers and industry insiders a glance at current markets for our most popular mailing list segments from consumers to auto sales to mortgages.  This week we take a look at the mortgage mailing list and the types of consumers that are highly likely to respond to refinancing offers. 

According to Freddie Mac, the 30-year conventional fixed rate mortgage now averages 3.99% nationwide.  15-year mortgage rates also have inched down reaching 3.17%, on average.  15-year loans have been popular with home buyers and refinancing households this year because of rock-bottom rates and the long-term savings that "shorter-term" loans can provide.  

Each week, government-backed Freddie Mac surveys more than 100 banks nationwide for the "market mortgage rate" they make available to prime mortgage borrowers, plus the number of discount points the banks charge to get that rate.

This year's drop in conventional mortgage rates has been a boon for U.S. home buyers.  As interest rates have dropped, purchasing power has grown.  Buyers can afford 7% "more home" today as compared to the start of the year.

FHA mortgage rates have priced 0.25 percentage points below comparable conventional loans via Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac; and VA and USDA mortgage rates have run 0.375 percentage points lower, often with fewer fees.

With mortgage rates down, there are literally millions of U.S. homeowners eligible for a refinance loan. Some have started taking steps to refinance, but many more have not.

Many homeowners meeting any of the following criteria are considering the possibility of a home loan refinance.

·         Homeowners who bought their home prior to May 2014

·         Homeowners who currently pay private mortgage insurance

·         Homeowners with an FHA loan who want to cancel FHA MIP

·         Homeowners who carry a credit card balance from month-to-month

·         Homeowners who want to use home equity to pay for home improvements

Additionally, homeowners with an existing FHA loan or VA loan may now find themselves finally eligible for the FHA Streamline Refinance and VA Streamline Refinance, respectively.  Both programs enforce a minimum monthly savings requirement.  With mortgage rates near an 18-month low, meeting those requirements is much more likely.

To learn more about making BB Direct’s mortgage consumer mailing lists databases your go to source for new mortgage leads, contact a member of our data team at (866) 501-6273.