Mortgage rates are on the rise, with the average rate on the 30-year fixed loan jumping to nearly four and a half percent this week. But at least one local expert is not seeing a slowdown in home buying activity.
In fact, Steve Babbitt, the President of the Greater Rochester Association of Realtors, feels the recently rising mortgage rates have actually spurred home buying by people who want to lock in a loan before rates rise further.
He also says if you’re in the market to buy a house, it probably won’t do you a lot of good to shop around in an effort to get a lower mortgage rate.
"Most of them are quite competitive, and you probably don't need to shop around like you did in the past."
Babbitt says so far, it appears that home sales this past spring were strong around the Rochester area. The realtors association releases its second quarter numbers in July.
