There's still plenty of uncertainty in the housing market.
Homeowners with adjustable-rate mortgages worry about rising interest rates, but many believe they will be able to refinance their loans if necessary, according to a study released Monday.
Be careful about putting all your eggs in one basket.
About 1 7th of all homeowners have adjustable rate mortgages.
The study found that nearly 80 percent of homeowners with ARMs said they were “somewhat” concerned, “very” concerned or “extremely” concerned about rate increases.
But more than half said they believed they could refinance their loans. And about 20 percent said they were prepared for rate adjustments and didn’t plan any changes.
Even despite the concern, many of these homeowners are taking a long view of this.
Doreen Woo Ho, president of Wells Fargo’s consumer credit group, said that homeowners “still have the ability to refinance now.” She noted that “while rates are higher than a year ago, they’re still low by historical standards.”
And that's helping to temper some of those concerns.
Wells Fargo’s third annual homeowners study also found that homeowners expect their properties to appreciate, although they apparently are aware that price increases are slowing.
Staying level headed is a good thing. There's one more interesting discovery.
Woo Ho said that one surprising finding was that younger homeowners — especially those born since 1964 — view their homes as a good investment as well as a place to live.
Overall, 72 percent of those surveyed said that the equity in their home was their most important investment, she said.
That certainly should make it easy to keep an eye on your investment.
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