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Should you refinance your mortgage this October? Here’s what experts think.
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Homeowners and homebuyers hoping for low mortgage rates have had a rough few years. After rates fell to record lows during the pandemic, they soared in the years following as the Federal Reserve repeatedly raised interest rates to fight inflation.
Americans accustomed to rates in the 3.00% to 4.00% range or below struggled to find loans below 7%. This left many would-be borrowers sitting on the sidelines hoping low mortgage rates would some day return. This included not just buyers, but those hoping to refinance their mortgage as well.
Fortunately, the tides are turning and those eager for mortgage rates to fall have started to see that dream become a reality. Current mortgage rates and refinance rates are down more than a point off post-pandemic highs and, with the Federal Reserve cutting the benchmark rate by 50 basis points at its September meeting, it’s not surprising rates have dropped to a 2-year low.
The big question now is, should you refinance in October or wait for rates to decline further? We asked some experts for their thoughts.
See how low of a mortgage refinance rate you could secure now here.
Should you refinance your mortgage this October?
Although many homeowners will find that waiting for further rate drops is the right move, this doesn’t mean everyone should delay.
“If you need money now, it could be the perfect time to refinance,” advises Domenick D’Andrea, a financial advisor and co-founder of DanDarah Wealth Management. Many homeowners have been waiting years to refinance at an affordable rate and won’t want to delay even longer when there are finally opportunities to lower their payments or get a loan with more favorable terms.
“Locking in a lower rate can reduce monthly payments, save on interest over time, or allow for quicker repayment,” says Douglas A. Boneparth, a certified planner, Financial Advisor and President of Bone Fide Wealth. “Additionally, if your home has appreciated in-value, you might access better terms or eliminate private mortgage insurance (PMI). Refinancing ahead of the holiday season or year-end can help streamline your finances going into the new year.”
Boneparth also warns that if home values start to decline, that could impact your eligibility to refinance. It’s also worth considering that while most experts believe rates will fall, there’s no guarantee as to when or how fast that will happen.
“Timing the market exactly right is nearly impossible to do, so if your mortgage is at 7% or 8%, we highly advise talking with a mortgage professional to see what options might be available to you,” advises Nina Gidwaney, Head of Refinance and Home Equity for Chase Home Lending.
When you shop around and compare your options, you may just find that getting a guaranteed lower rate and immediate relief from high payments today is more valuable to you than waiting months for a potentially lower future rate months in the future.
Start shopping for refinance rates and lenders online today.
Waiting to refinance could pay big dividends
With mortgage rates on the decline, some homeowners have already been spurred to action.
“With a recent Fed interest rate cut of 50 basis points, we’re already seeing refinance volume pick up as homeowners look to lower their monthly payments or use the equity in their home to take out cash,” says Gidwaney.
However, acting too quickly could mean giving up the chance at lower rates are on the horizon, or potentially putting yourself in a situation where you don’t realize all the savings that could be available later.
“All signs point to potentially two more rate decreases by the end of the year,” says D’Andrea. “If you believe rates will continue in a downward trend, at least wait for the next two Fed decisions. If they only lower the rate by 25 basis points during each of the next two meetings, that could save you about $150 a month on a $500K refinance over the next 30 years.”
Beverly Hankinson, Senior Vice President and mortgage loan advisor manager at Frost Bank also warns that while the Fed cut the benchmark rate in September, that doesn’t mean borrowers will benefit from a big rate drop this October. “Remember that while the Fed has lowered short-term rates, mortgage rates, which are long-term, aren’t typically immediately affected and are slower to move.”
If rates don’t drop further this month, some buyers will still find opportunities to save but must do the math carefully to see if refinancing is worthwhile. “Refinancing may not be ideal if rates aren’t meaningfully lower than your current rate or if you face high closing costs that can outweigh the immediate benefits,” Boneparth says.
The high costs that often come with refinancing are a deterrent for homeowners who may be thinking about refinancing now and again later if rates drop further. “You want to make sure you are not going to end up doing multiple refinances since there are closing costs involved, which will negate the savings if you don’t hold the mortgage for long enough,” says Sarah Alvarez, Vice President of Mortgage Banking at William Raveis Mortgage.
The bottom line
Ultimately, the decision to refinance your mortgage now is a personal one. For some owners, it may be beneficial to take advantage of today’s lower rates immediately. Others, however, could benefit by waiting for rates to potentially fall further. Weigh your options and risk tolerance carefully and start comparing lenders and terms online now to better determine your path forward.
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A joint federal intelligence bulletin obtained by CBS News warns of potential violent extremism and hate crimes committed in response to the one-year mark of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by the militant group Hamas and the resulting conflict in Gaza.
The bulletin, authored by FBI, Department of Homeland Security and National Counterterrorism Center, was first disseminated by federal law enforcement to local law enforcement partners late Wednesday.
The agencies found that the one-year mark of the attack “as well as any further significant escalations” in the Israel-Hamas war “may be a motivating factor for violent extremists and hate crime perpetrators to engage in violence or threaten public safety,” the bulletin read.
The bulletin provided several recent examples of such threats, including the Sept. 6 arrest of a Pakistani national by Canadian authorities who was accused of planning a mass shooting at a Jewish center in New York City.
The bulletin also comes as tensions have continued to ramp up in the Middle East. Following an Israeli airstrike on Beirut last week which killed longtime Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, Iran on Tuesday responded with a missile salvo on Israel, launching nearly 200 ballistic missiles, most of which were intercepted by Israel’s missile defense systems. Hamas and Hezbollah are both proxies of Iran.
Israel also began limited ground operations in southern Lebanon this week.
Following Iran’s missile attack, a senior DHS official told CBS News during a briefing Wednesday, “I don’t know that we’ve got a crystal clear assessment on that at this point. We are literally in the earliest days of trying to understand what exactly Iranian intentions might be. We do, though, assess that Iran has a global capacity and a global capability, that it can draw, that it can target U.S. interests around the world – that it certainly has the reach and capacity to do, to carry out, to engage with individuals here inside the United States in ways that present potential threat to the United States, here in the homeland.”
The official added that this is an area of “near daily engagement” between DHS, FBI and other law enforcement partners.
Iran has been involved in “a variety of other efforts in the aftermath of Oct. 7,” the official noted, including “putting out fabricated material to try to increase people’s anger about the post-Oct. 7 situation.”
The bulletin cautioned that “the expansion of the conflict further into the region could serve as motivation for violence against Jewish, Israeli, or American targets in retaliation for civilian deaths, and we cannot preclude the possibility that threat actors in the United States will react with violence to the death” of Nasrallah.
Intelligence analysts revealed in the bulletin that the Oct. 7 attack and Israel-Hamas war “have been cited as sociopolitical grievances influencing some individuals mobilization to violence in the United States,” adding that “hate crimes surged shortly following the attacks and have decreased over the past several months to levels consistent with reporting prior to the conflict, a trend that mirrors hate crimes following previous international conflicts or events.”
In the immediate months after Oct. 7, reports of antisemitic incidents surged in the U.S. The Anti-Defamation League said it recorded 2,031 antisemitic incidents nationwide between Oct. 7 and Dec. 7 of 2023, a 337% increase compared with the same period in 2022.
“Over the past year, we have observed violent extremist activity and hate crimes in the United States linked to the conflict,” the bulletin read. “Jewish, Muslim, or Arab institutions, including synagogues, mosques, and community centers, and large public gatherings, such as memorials, vigils, or other demonstrations, present attractive targets for violent attacks or for hoax threats by a variety of threat actors, including homegrown violent extremists, domestic violent extremists, and hate crime perpetrators who may view the anniversary as an opportunity to conduct an attack or other high-profile, illegal activity.”
The bulletin also warns that foreign terrorist organizations have created media that compares the Oct. 7 and 9/11 attacks and encourages “lone attackers to use simple tactics like firearms, knives, Molotov cocktails, and vehicle ramming against Western targets in retaliation for deaths in Gaza. Individuals inspired by this online messaging could act alone to commit an attack with little to no warning.”
At his first campaign stop since the vice presidential debate, Tim Walz sought to clarify comments he has made about his travel to China and Hong Kong in 1989 as bloody pro-democracy protests took place.
Walz admitted during the debate that he had previously misspoken in 2014 when he said he was in mainland China between April and June 1989, during the Tiananmen Square protests, which took place between April 15 and June 4 of that year. After that concession, however, Walz repeated the mistatement, saying, “So, I was in Hong Kong and China during the democracy protests, went in, and from that I learned a lot of what needed to be in governance.”
Butan Alliance Times-Herald news report from May 1989 shows then-Staff Sgt. Walz was in the U.S. and toured a Nebraska Army National Guard armory. A news radio station also reported in another Nebraska newspaper in August 1989 that Walz said he would “leave Sunday en route to China,” which was after the protests.
Responding to a question about his remarks from CBS News in Middleville, Pennsylvania, Walz corrected himself and admitted he had his dates wrong, adding that he needs to be clearer when he speaks.
“So, my clarity, to take away from the message, is something I want to be very clear — August of ’89 into Hong Kong, into China,” said the Minnesota governor, who often talks fast and in shorthand.
Walz also clarified a verbal misstatement from the debate, when he said he was friends with school shooters. The moment was quickly seized upon by Republicans and former President Donald Trump, who posted on Truth Social about it.
Walz, a former teacher and football coach, said that although he misspoke, it is “pretty damn clear” that he has stood with school shooting victims and passed legislation in an effort to curb such violence.
In the same conversation at the debate on Tuesday night, Walz mentioned that his teenage son, Gus, was a witness to a shooting. On the campaign trail, Walz often says that even though he supports the Second Amendment, he doesn’t think that should allow children to be shot dead in the hallways.
Walz’s rally Wednesday in York, Pennsylvania, was filled with supporters who defended him.
“Who can remember where they were 30 years ago?” Joan Nagy, of Lancaster, Pennsylvania asked.
“Anybody can make a mistake,” Les Ford said, adding, “When’s the last time you heard Donald Trump or his running mate correct themselves?”
After rolling into the rally on the Harris-Walz campaign bus to address a crowd of around 2,000, Walz leaned in further on his debate performance.
“Anybody watch the debate last night? Not bad for a football coach, huh?,” he quipped.
“Now, look, there is a reason Mike Pence was not on that stage with me,” he said. Walz added, “I served with Mike Pence in Congress. We disagreed on most issues, but in Congress and as a vice president, I never criticized Mike Pence’s ethics and commitment to this country, Walz said. “And he made the decision for the Constitution. Mike Pence did his duty. He honored his oath, and he chose the Constitution over Donald Trump,” Walz said.
“Senator Vance made it clear he will always make a different choice than Mike Pence made,” Walz said, referring to Pence’s refusal to give in to pressure by Trump to not certify the 2020 presidential election. Vance has said that he wouldn’t have certified the election, as Pence had, which Walz said “should be absolutely disqualifying if you’re asking to be the vice president of the United States.”
During their debate, “CBS Evening News” anchor Norah O’Donnell noted that Vance has said he wouldn’t have certified the last presidential election and would have asked the states to submit alternative electors, and she asked, “Would you again seek to challenge this year’s election results, even if every governor certifies the results?”
Vance did not directly answer, saying only, “What President Trump has said is that there were problems in 2020 and my own belief is we should fight about those issues, debate those issues peacefully in the public square.”
