Mortgage Rates Just Got WILD in 2026

Hey guys, welcome back to another week of Mortgage Matters in Minutes. Again, I'm your host Brent Rasmussen, owner of Mortgage Specialists. Thankfully, we're coming to you to bring this information to you that interest rates have been going wild. and wild is probably a normal statement to state in our real estate environment as in doing this over 25 years. Real estate markets are up and down, rates are up and down, things change in very very quickly, especially in the technological age that we're in with things that spread out there for news and media and all kinds of things happening. things and markets can change and we've seen that drastically happen this spring. Obviously the biggest thing occurring is the United States Iran war situation whatever you would like to call it as I know Congress has not declared it a war but most people still call it a war as that's what it looks and feels like. So with that particular situation, obviously oil prices have gone through increased rising over the last weeks and months and because of that risk of inflation that's also causing interest rate environment to increase as well too. As we know with mortgage rates or interest rates in general, inflation is their arch rival. Meaning, as inflation rises, so do mortgage rates. If inflation goes down, so do mortgage rates. And we're seeing that environment happen right now. And it's a really challenging environment because people have contacted us earlier on when rates were much better, coming back under contract with a house, and now interest rates are worse. No one likes that situation. We don't want to come back to you and tell you the rate is different than what we originally quoted. So, that's not a fun part of our job. But is it something we've seen before? Yes. Do we have ways to educate you and prepare you for those things? Yes. But we together as a professional and a buyer have to have professional agreements, understandings that we're going to give you the best advice we can and you understand that is the best advice. Obviously, many people are going online trying to find something cheaper, but cheaper, as we've discussed, isn't always best because they might be cutting corners. They don't have experience, and you can get yourself into a very challenged situation in regards to what the loan may look and feel like. So, we've talked about the international geo global uncertainty and geopolitical situations. Again, I've been doing this over 25 years. If anyone sits there and knows what is going on, what's happening next. That's impossible. people can guess, they can speculate. Just like when COVID started, people thought they knew what was going to happen. And what is occurring right now is uncertainty. And with uncertainty comes rocky stock markets, comes rocky interest rates. And that's what we're experiencing right now. So, how does this affect you as a consumer purchasing a home? We're never going to be able to time things perfectly. I know many people have been sitting by the sidelines waiting for this year for interest rates to come down. But timing that aspect is very, very challenging to find the perfect time to end up getting under contract and locking in that interest rate is just not as easy as it may seem. So, some people sate, should I wait to buy? We've always said you should not wait to buy because statistics have shown the earlier you buy, the earlier you gain appreciation, the earlier you buy in in a cheaper amount. Similar to the stock market, over time, housing prices continue to keep going up. That could change. There could be something out of all of our controls that we don't know. But just like in the stock market, the sooner you get in, the sooner you gain that compounding interest to gain yourself net worth and net value to your personal finances as well. So, a strategy for homeowners, what I would recommend is taking the rate while you can get it. if it's not a perfect grade and you were told it was this and now it's that, you have a much greater chance right now in this very volatile market of locking something in that's going to give you that rate for 30 to 60 days. Meaning there's a much greater chance of rates continually go up before they'll rock bottom and start to go down very quickly. it's just the way that is things have happened. Unless all of a sudden tomorrow the whole world goes into peace together and we all get everything completely narrowed down, that's the only way we're going to see interest rates start to continue to go back down. So right now, where can rates go? We don't know. It could go to 9 10 12%. Could it? Maybe. We've seen this happen in the early 80s, but again, we don't know. So, our best advice to provide to you is lock the interest rates. If for some reason they plummet by a good amount, there's a threshold called an renegotiation and you can renegotiate your interest rate. You have to pay certain monies for that opportunity and they many times will meet you in the middle. But interest rates need to drop by a good threshold, a half to a quarter percent. Depending on the lender's agreement that you have set up, does that generally happen? No. And we don't see rates drop that far that fast. But we do see interest rates increase quite quickly in regards to going the other way around. So, now that we chatted about locking an interest rate, I would also plan accordingly when we're doing a pre-approval is look at higher interest rates. While we don't want to give you that higher interest rate, at least you're prepared for what the payment would look like if interest rates increased by a quarter, a half, even 1%. So, you're aware of what is going on to make sure that you can afford your budget and it your lifestyle and how it fits in there. Because I can share with you many times during these environments, people back out of contracts just because they were assuming this interest rate and they got that interest rate. And that can be a challenge. Obviously, we want to give all of our clients the best interest rate, the best closing cost, the best service we can because we all work off of referrals. And if you're taken care of, you're going to pass on our name to your friends, your family, your co-workers, so on and so forth. And that's how we continue to move our business forward and continue paying our bills and making income happen in our life is through taking care of people. that carries down to you and others sending referrals our way. So, we've chatted about a lot of different things. Lastly, what I'll leave you with is choosing the right lender. Choosing a lender with experience through these markets. We've seen all these markets before. They've happened. Do we like them? Never. But we've experienced them. So, we know from day to day when rates are all over the place. Hey, let's lock it in or maybe no. Let's wait a half a day and see what happens. It's all a big gamble. Every decision we make is a big gamble. Not necessarily on housing, but even if we're talking about investing in the stock market is still a gamble, but let's take all of our information that we can and come up with the less least risky gamble that fits in your risk environment. So, we can definitely help you. I've seen so many people chase interest rates and chase closing costs here lately. Definitely can do that. But those loan officers don't have the experience to get on here like this to explain the markets and the situation that we're going through and have been through it. While there are some great loan officers in our community, I know them well and personally, they would offer the same advice that I'm giving you. But those that haven't been through these markets don't quite understand all of the detail or where the borrower can lose out on if for some reason someone says, "Hey, let's float this interest rate, not lock it in." And next thing you know, interest rates go up a half or 3/4 of a percent. A lot thrown at you today. We understand that and that's why we're here. we call ourselves counselors many days to go through financials, go through situations of what is occurring and we know it's a very stressful time. Buying and selling I think has never been an easy time in people's lives and moving and all the things that come with it. So if we can give you a little less stress in your life, that's what we're here for. So I'm Brent Rasmussen, owner of Mortgage Specialists. Love to work with you. Call us anytime at 402-991-5153 or check us out at our website at mtg-specialists.com or just click on those links here below and it'll get you right to where you need to be right in our backyard and we'd love to answer any questions. Have a great rest of your week. We'll see you next time. Mortgage specialists. Driven. Trusted. Reliable.