Interest rates for a 30 year conventional fixed rate mortgages are currently at 3.47% according to Freddie Mac's latest Primary Mortgage Market Survey.  For the past 16 weeks, rate have remained historically low at or below 3.5%. The interest rate the borrower secures when buying a home not only greatly impacts their monthly housing costs,but also impacts their purchasing power.  Purchasing power, simply put, is the amount of home they can afford to buy for the budget they have available to spend. As rates increase, the price of the house they can afford will decrease if they plan to stay within a certain monthly housing budget. The chart below shows what impact rising interest rates would have if they planned to purchase a home within the national median price range and planned to keep the principal and interest payments at or about $1,100 a month. Buyer's Purchasing … [Read more...]