There was a great article in this weekend’s N.Y. Times Real Estate Edition, titled, “New Yorkers Miss Refinancing Spree”.
I found this out firsthand attempting to refinance myself and polling local friends and neighbors who abandoned the process as I did. Why?
- The lowest rates are for mortgages up to $417,000, generally low for our area.
- N.Y.S. Mortgage tax generally needs to be paid each time there is a new mortgage, even to the same owner, making the cost of refinancing higher than other states.
- I am finding that nearly all banks are now requiring that you escrow your tax money. It used to be a general rule of six months in advance but I have seen 9 months upfront…that is a lot of extra money to come up with at closing!
- The other various fees (appraisal, etc.) seem to have increased, making the process more expensive.
- The article states that that there was a 92% rise in mortgage refinancing transactions nationwide in the first 3 months of this year compared to the same period last year, but New York State experienced only a 6% jump.
*graph courtesy of NYT article above.
Tags: Rye Mortgages, Rye Refinancing