For years, interest rates on commercial loans have been much higher than standard 30 year fixed rate mortgages for a primary residence. The rates for home loans have been coming down lower in the past few years to record lows. Most homeowners have refinanced their mortgages to the lowest payments possible, but commercial loan rates have remained steady. There has always been a difference in interest rates between the two types of mortgages of between .5 to 1.5% in rates. Never before has the spread been as much as 3 % higher for commercial loan rates. Until recently, rates on commercial loans have been TWICE the rate of residential home mortgages. The reasoning of most banks has been that they are lending to businesses based on the depositors who have money in their banks. These institutions have been paying depositors less than 1% on their savings accounts and CDs, yet they are charging 6.25% to the commercial borrowers. Since they have a limited pool of funds they can't lend like the banks who are selling their residential loans to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. These agencies have an unlimited amount of funds to lend to the banks, making them flush with funds available to lend to homeowners. Finally, they have come to realize that these low interest rates on home mortgages appear to be staying at these record low levels for quite some time. In sympathy with the home mortgages, many local banks have reduced their lending rates on commercial loans to as low as 3.75%. This marks a sharp reduction for what they were charging as recently as a few months ago. Since most commercial loans are much higher than residential loans, the monthly savings will be significant. If you haven't taken advantage of these low rates for businesses, you may get in touch with your current lender, or if you own a business in Pennsylvania you can call me.
Andy Williams
President
Abacus Regional Mortgage
484 695 5972
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