Bankrate recently released its 2022 mortgage and home equity rate predictions, predicting another active year despite the ongoing pandemic. Here’s what Bankrate Chief Finance Analyst Greg McBride is forecasting for the year.
Key predictions:
- HELOC rates are going to mimic what the Fed does for existing borrowers, while new borrowers can expect fewer introductory and promotional rates due to predicted rises in rates.
- The average HELOC rate could raise to more than half a percentage point, reaching 5.05% by year-end.
- New home equity loans could end the year at 6.25%.
- Mortgage rates could climb to 3.75% during 2022 before falling back to 3.50% by year-end.
- The Fed will raise rates twice; however, McBride acknowledges there is room for error in this prediction.
The takeaway:
“That 3.5% is higher than where we are now, but it’s still lower than anything we’d ever seen prior to the pandemic,” McBride says. “So it’s still going to be an environment of low and attractive mortgage rates.”
“Next year is going to be an active year for the Fed,” he says. “You could easily see them raising rates four times. They did that in 2018,” he added.
