Mortgage Rates For March 18, 2024: Credit Repair for Homebuyers: Hitting Milestones

When it’s time to buy a home, your credit score is one of the most important pieces of information your lender will use to determine whether to extend credit to you – and how much to offer. Having an exemplary credit score can help you borrow more or get a slightly lower interest rate depending on the financial institution and the algorithms they use.

Certain credit scores are considered milestones when it comes to lending decisions. While this can be dependent upon the type of loan you’re applying for, you also want some extra padding on your score to ensure no small, minor fluctuations negatively impact a lending decision. 

Today’s 30-year mortgage interest rates

The average daily mortgage interest rate for Monday, March 18, 2024 is 7.11% for a 30 year fixed rate. The rate fell 0.02% from yesterday and 0.31% from February 2023. This information is sourced daily from correspondent, retail, and wholesale lenders located in the United States.

Today’s 15-year mortgage interest rates

The average daily mortgage interest rate for Monday, March 18, 2024 is 6.63% for a 15 year fixed rate. The rate fell 0.02% from yesterday and 0.45% from February 2023. This information is sourced daily from correspondent, retail, and wholesale lenders located in the United States.

Important credit milestones

What credit score milestones are important? If you’re going for a popular Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loan, you must have a FICO Score of at least 580 to qualify for a loan with 3.5% down. If you can put together a downpayment of 10%, you must have a score of at least 500. 

Naturally, there are also other factors that go into lending decisions, such as income level and the creditworthiness of your co-signer, if applicable. 

Make minor credit score improvements to hit milestones

If you’re just a few points away from an important credit score milestone, or if you want to make sure you have some extra points on your score in case of a minor fluctuation, there are a few tweaks you can make to improve your credit score. These include:

• Request credit increase on credit cards: If your credit card utilization is over 30%, it could negatively impact your score. You can reduce this percentage in two ways – by paying the balance down, or by asking for credit limit increases on your credit cards. Ideally, as long as you don’t overextend, you can do both to boost your score.
• Report your rent: Are you a current renter? Unlike paying a mortgage or auto loan, rent doesn’t typically count to your FICO score. However, there are rent reporting agencies that can legitimately report your rent, increasing your credit score by up to 10 points while the service remains active.

These minor improvements can provide you with more flexibility when it comes to house hunting, considering you’ll have more funding available at a better rate.