Consumer poll: What’s important to today’s homebuyers?

75% of prospective borrowers said finding a low interest rate was the most important thing when selecting a lender.

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Today, let’s dive into homebuyer and homeowner sentiments as explored by Intercontinental Exchange.

The data provider surveyed 2,001 homeowners and renters and, unsurprisingly, found that 75% of prospective borrowers said finding a low interest rate was the most important thing when selecting a lender.

So how do you know you’re getting the lowest interest rate? By shopping around.

Also see: Southern California home-repair costs surged after wildfires

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (basically, the mortgage police) states that shopping at least three mortgage lenders can save borrowers an average $100 a month in mortgage interest or more than $3,000 in upfront fees. Five lender quotes can save more than $6,000.

According to the survey, just 3% of borrowers shop for four or more lenders, 41% shop two lenders, 16% shop three lenders and 40% query just one lender.

Shopping around means first going to a lender with whom you’ve previously had good experience, asking family and friends for their recommendations, asking your real estate agent and shopping online.

Also see: $50M program for homeowners to install all-electric systems

The second-most-important thing respondents (54%) wanted was low lender fees.

Here’s where things can get confusing. Finding the lowest rate and low lender fees can be a bit of an oxymoron.

Think about a teeter-totter: Typically, the lower the interest rate, the more the points (which are part of lender fees). Or the higher the interest rate, the fewer the points.

Paying points up front is essentially paying interest in advance and buying down the rate.

For example, today, a well-qualified buyer putting 25% down on a $1 million home and a $750,000 loan can get a 30-year fixed rate at 5.375% with 2 points’ cost (each point is 1% of the loan amount, or $7,500 per point). Or the borrower can get a 5.625% interest rate with 1 point. Lastly, the borrower can get a 6.125% interest rate with zero points applied.

The 5.375% rate has a principal and interest payment of $4,200; 5.625% interest rate is $4,317 and 6.125% is $4,557.

If you are thinking about comparing annual percentage rates or APR to compare the cost of credit, it’s not the best way to compare. It’s an old banker’s trick that was memorialized into law in 1968, and it can mislead consumers. Why? Real costs like loan documents, appraisal and credit report fees are excluded from the APR.

The “time it takes to close the loan” was important to 28% of respondents.

Those well-priced prime properties are still seeing bidding wars. Very often, the home seller and listing agent will ask for a very short timeline, removing the financing contingency (the full loan approval), shaving 10 days from the process with a closing in 21 days.

Assuming the borrower finds a low interest rate with fair closing costs, he or she must ask his/her mortgage loan originator how quickly he or she can close the loan.

Trust and verify. One way to check up on the MLO is to ask for the names and contact information of the last three purchase borrowers. You can always call one or all of them to confirm their loan closed on time. While I have never done this for my clients, I would be happy to connect them with permission from both sides.

Interestingly, 39% in the survey said the homebuying process is psychologically taxing, with the length of time to close being the most stressful aspect of the mortgage process.

Almost 30% of respondents found mortgage qualification, filling out the loan application and uploading all of the documents to be stressful and challenging.

An eye-popping 47% of respondents experienced anxiety or panic during the homebuying process.

When it comes to communication, 96% said it was important to have personalized communication when working with a mortgage lender, with phone (70%) and email (64%) being the preferred means of communication.

What about artificial intelligence embedded into the homebuying process like automated recommendations and virtual assistants?

Only 11% of respondents were extremely comfortable using AI, whereas 25% were not comfortable at all using the technology.

As for renters, sadly, 78% of those surveyed said owning a home was beyond their reach at this time.

For 46% of renters, finding a good deal on a house would convince them to buy.

Regarding home sellers, 62% of homeowners have no plans to sell their homes anytime soon due to the combination of sustained high property prices and mortgage rates.

Survey details: The 2026 Borrower Insights Survey polled 2,001 U.S. respondents ages 18 years and older. One thousand respondents own their primary residence and have taken out a mortgage in the past 10 years. The remaining 1,001 respondents rent their current residence. Borrowers were asked about the elements of the experience that were most important to them during the loan process. Renters were asked about their perceptions of the homebuying experience and their expectations about the requirements of homebuying. The survey took place in November and December.

Freddie Mac rate news: The 30-year fixed rate averaged 6.3%, 7 basis points lower than the previous week. The 15-year fixed rate averaged 5.65%, 9 basis points lower than the previous week.

The Mortgage Bankers Association reported a 1.8% mortgage application increase compared with one week ago.

Bottom line: Assuming a borrower gets an average 30-year fixed rate on a conforming $832,750 loan, last year’s payment was $292 more than last week’s payment of $5,154.

What I see: Locally, well-qualified borrowers can get the following fixed-rate mortgages with one point: a 30-year FHA at 5.375 %, a 15-year conventional at 5.25%, a 30-year conventional at 5.875%, a 15-year conventional high-balance at 5.625% ($832,751 to $1,249,125 in Los Angeles and Orange County and $832,751 to $1,104,000 in San Diego), a 30-year high-balance conventional at 6.125% and a jumbo 30-year-fixed at 6.125%.

Eye-catcher loan program of the week: a 30-year mortgage, interest-only payments, fixed for the first five years at 5.875%, at 1 point’s cost.

Jeff Lazerson, president of Mortgage Grader, can be reached at 949-322-8640 or [email protected].

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