Mortgage interest rates, as reported by Freddie Mac, have increased over the last several weeks. Along with Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, the Mortgage Bankers Association and the National Association of Realtors are all calling for mortgage rates to continue to rise over the next four quarters.

This has caused some purchasers to lament the fact they may no longer be able to get a rate less than 4%. However, we must realize that current rates are still at historic lows.

Here is a chart showing the average mortgage interest rate over the last several decades.

Bottom Line

Though you may have missed getting the lowest mortgage rate ever offered, you can still get a better interest rate than your older brother or sister did ten years ago; a lower rate than your parents did twenty years ago and a better rate than your grandparents did forty years ago.

We recently reported that investment purchases in 2014 fell 7.4% for the year, that combined with a diminished supply of distressed inventory allowing for big profits, has real estate investors looking for a new way to make more money in 2015.

So if they don’t have new properties to buy… how would they make more money? Easy… they are going to raise your rent!

A recent article from Bloomberg Business gave insight into exactly what the CEO’s of major investment firms are thinking.

“We are focusing aggressively on rent bumps,” American Residential Properties CEO Stephen Schmitz said during a panel discussion. “There’s a supply imbalance in some markets. The same thing that keeps occupancy high also drives rents.”

How Much Are They Going To Raise Your Rent?

Rental rates are predicted to increase 4% on renewals and as much as 5.7% for new tenants.

Haendel St. Juste, a Morgan Stanley analyst put it this way:

“The focus is now on optimizing revenue, compared to getting heads in beds,”

So What You Can Do?

If you are one of the millions of renters out there dreading the day that you have to renew your lease, or planning to move into a new rental property, now may be the time to sit with a real estate professional and evaluate your ability to lock in your housing cost, by buying now.

People often ask whether they should buy a home now or wait. Recently released data suggests that waiting may not make sense as prices seem to again be on the rise. Let’s take a look at some of the data and commentary on the subject: