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<div type="image" title="In case RBI is in the mood to hike the interest, your home loan EMIs might end up taking more from your pockets. Or, if it leaves the rates unchanged, your EMIs wont budge one bit" msid="114284206" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;In case RBI is in the mood to hike the interest, your home loan EMIs might end up taking more from your pockets. Or, if it leaves the rates unchanged, your EMIs wont budge one bit&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> On September 18, 2024, the <keyword id="19951097" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="us-fed" source="keywords">US Fed</keyword> delivered a jumbo-sized surprise to the global economy. Not only did they trim their interest rates by a massive 50 basis points to bring their yields down to 5%, but also hinted at further rate cuts in the upcoming months. This move from the fed and several other central banks globally had pushed expectations high for a similar rate slash closer home, from the <keyword id="19899808" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="rbi" source="keywords">RBI</keyword> this month. But governor <keyword id="19913110" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="shaktikanta-das" source="keywords">Shaktikanta Das</keyword>, in a “picture abhi baaki hai” moment, decided to hold the repo rates here steady, leaving them unchanged at 6.5% for the record 10th straight time. Although, he did tinker with the policy stand, changing it from “rate cuts are absolutely off the table” to a more accommodating “we’re okay with bringing down the rates, if needed”. This, rather neutral, stance from India’s financial custodian sparked hopes for a rate cut in December this year. However, the stubborn <keyword id="22195" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="inflation" source="Orion">inflation</keyword> levels in September have again dented such hopes. As consumers, you may be wondering what all the hullabaloo this is about, since it hardly makes a difference to your regular financial routine. Well, the majority of both economic growth and inflation is closely connected to this policy stance from the central bank and it does have a rather indirect effect on both our earnings and spending. But more directly, it would have clear implications for those looking to own a house. Even the slightest modification of interest rates, or the lack of it, influences the <keyword id="19916018" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="emi" source="keywords">EMI</keyword> you pay significantly. So, all aspiring homebuyers, is this the right time to take out a loan and buy a house? Can you expect a rate cut anytime soon, and what will that mean for your home-owning dreams? We lay it out. <h2>What’s the connection?</h2>You see, buying a house is no small feat, at least financially. The task becomes even more herculean if you are scouting for your own roof in cities like Delhi, Noida, Bangalore or Mumbai where, as Circuit from Munnabhai says, “room shuru hote hi khatam ho jata hai”. Naturally, you’ll have to take a <keyword id="6354730" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Home-loan" source="Orion">home loan</keyword> from the bank. Don’t be mistaken, the bank won't give you a loan that covers 100% of the value of the property you want to own. Rather, your loan amount will be equivalent to a certain percentage of the property’s total value. RBI’s guidelines on this are pretty clear: <ul><li>If your loan amount is up to Rs 30 lakh, you can get a loan worth 90% of the property’s value.</li></ul><ul><li>If the loan amount is between Rs 30 lakh and Rs 75 lakh, you are eligible for a loan worth 80% of the property’s value. </li><li>If you are taking a loan of more than Rs 75 lakh, your loan amount will be equivalent to 70% of the property’s value. </li></ul>Now assuming that you have the money, it's all about paying back the principal amount, but not without a little (read hefty) interest added on top. See, when you’re taking a home loan, you are actually signing up for a long-term, even multi-decadal financial commitment, which will unfailingly present itself to your bank accounts and finances every single month, in the form of EMIs, or equated monthly instalments). When you take a home loan, you can choose to pay the interest in two ways (talk about choices!). One is that you decide to keep a fixed rate of interest throughout the tenure of your home loan. So, if you opt for a 25-year fixed-rate home loan at the rate of 8.8% p.a., you’ll have to pay interest at this rate for the next 25 years, till your entire loan is paid off. Yes, you can go backsies and switch to a floating-rate home loan by paying a fee. Floating, as the name suggests, means that your interest rate is not set in stone. But starting October 2019, when it comes to a floating interest rate home loan, your payable interest and EMIs are directly impacted by any changes in <keyword id="20094323" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="repo-rate" source="keywords">repo rate</keyword>, which were left unchanged by RBI this time around. Why are these two so chummy, you might ask. Well, <keyword id="173069" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Home-loan-interest" source="Orion">home loan interest</keyword> rates are a sum of two things: <ol><li>Repo Rate (the rate at which RBI lends money to banks)</li><li>Operational cost + margins</li></ol>Any plus or minus in this equation would send your home loan interests tanking, or skyrocketing. Vivek Iyer, Partner, Grant Thornton Bharat explains that any change in the repo rates impacts the cost of funds and thereby the home loan interest rates. “When the interest rates are expected to reduce, the corresponding impact will be in the form of a reduced EMI. Home loan borrowers should always try to borrow at a floating rate when interest rates are expected to reduce and at a fixed rate when the interest rates are expected to increase. This minimizes the outflow in the form of EMIs that the home loan borrowers will experience”, he continues. So, no change in repo rates means no change in your home loan interest payout and no financial relief whatsoever. A rate cut, which most experts are anticipating will start this December, would mean your EMI payments come down, and your wallet might save a little more. But there’s also a chance of an UNO reverse happening. In case RBI is in the mood to hike the interest, your home loan EMIs might end up taking more from your pockets. Consider this. You took a floating interest rate home loan worth Rs 50 lakh in January 2022 at 8% p.a., for a period of 20 years. This brings your total monthly EMI to Rs Rs 41,822. But, as luck would (or won't) have it, RBI raised the interest rate by 250 basis points between May 2022 and February 2023, bringing it to its current status of 6.5%. Some back-of-the-envelope calculations suggest that now, your home loan interest payout will also rise by a hefty 2.5%, taking the total to 10.5%. In other words, you’ll have to dish out Rs 49,919 per month as EMI. Now, won't you heave a sigh of relief if the RBI were to bring down the interest rate by say, even 50 basis points, or 0.5%? Agreed, your EMI will come down just marginally, to Rs 48,251. But look at this over a 20-year period, and you’ll see how big the difference is. <h2>Are rates set to change anytime soon?</h2>Generally, RBI hikes the repo rates if it sees inflation spiralling out of control. Then, in a bid to reduce consumer spending, it raises interest rates to make borrowing expensive. But when the apex bank sees sluggish consumption in the economy, inflation in control and wants to boost spending, it slashes down on interest rates, making it more lucrative for people to borrow. As of now, most experts are not anticipating any changes in the interest rates anytime soon. This means home loans are not getting cheaper anytime soon. The CPI data, which came out yesterday, saw inflation rise to 5.49% in September, compared to 3.65% last month. Food and beverage prices jumped to a four-month high of 8.36% in September, as opposed to a 5.3% rise in August. So a rate cut seems a no-go at the moment! Apurva Sheth, Head of Market Perspectives and Research, SAMCO Securities explains that the RBI had probably expected a hardening of inflation and that's why it chose to hold on to the rates in the monetary policy announcement last week. “Now, it seems that RBI will take a cautious stance going ahead and will not be in a hurry into rate cuts like its global peers”, he added. In all this, one thing is clear, in the grand movie of the Indian economy, the RBI has chosen stability over drama. And just like in every good Bollywood film, we're left wondering what twist the sequel will bring. Until then, it might be “The End" for rate cuts, but the show must go on for the Indian economy!

Simply Put: Boom or bust — how RBI’s decision to leave rates unchanged affects homebuyers

Top 8 banks offering low interest rates on home loans; check full list here

<ul class="summary-list"><li>It's all but guaranteed that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates this week.</li><li>It comes after years of aggressive inflation-fighting from the central bank.</li></ul>The time has finally come: Americans are about to find out <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/interest-rate-cuts-wall-street-how-much-jackson-hole-fed-2024-8">how big of an interest-rate cut</a> they'll be getting this week.On Wednesday, the Federal Open Market Committee will announce its next move on <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jobs-unemployment-interest-rates-economy-recession-soft-landing-2024-8">interest rates</a>, and it's all but certain the nation's central bank will cut for the first time in four years. The big question is how much.According to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cmegroup.com/markets/interest-rates/cme-fedwatch-tool.html">CME FedWatch</a>, which estimates interest rate changes based on market predictions, the size of the rate cut is a coin toss. As of Friday afternoon, there's a 51% chance the Federal Reserve will cut rates by 25 basis points and a 49% chance it'll be an extra-large 50-basis-point cut. The probabilities suggest a near-zero chance that the Fed will hold rates steady."The time has come for policy to adjust," Fed Chair Jerome Powell said during his address at a gathering of central bankers in <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/interest-rate-cuts-are-coming-federal-reserve-jackson-hole-powell-2024-8">Jackson Hole, Wyoming,</a> last month. "The direction of travel is clear, and the timing and pace of rate cuts will depend on incoming data, the evolving outlook, and the balance of risks."The <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/inflation-august-consumer-price-index-federal-reserve-rate-cuts-2024-9">consumer price index</a> inflation data that came out last Wednesday was the last large piece of data before the Fed meeting. With August's core CPI coming in unexpectedly hotter than expected, it was looking likely a 50-basis-point cut wouldn't happen. That's because a larger rate cut makes borrowing cheaper, which tends to drive up spending and fuel price increases.The <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/unemployment-rate-job-growth-interest-rate-cuts-federal-reserve-recession-2024-9">job market</a> also supports a rate cut this month — the unemployment rate ticked down in August but stayed above its recent lows, and hiring gains have cooled. Lower rates ease pressure on companies' bottom lines, freeing up budgets for hiring.Many economists hope that the long-sought soft landing of getting inflation under control while avoiding a devastating recession could be near. "This rate cut is great news for middle-class families, not only does it underscore the Fed is convinced that inflation is coming under control, it signals the economy has recovered to a faster, sustainable growth trajectory and is ready for further investments in job creation," Michael Madowitz, the former director of macroeconomic policy at the Washington Center for Equitable Growth, said.<h2 id="d213ed81-690b-4194-9569-8ae1349857cf">It'll take time for the cuts to set in</h2>Alena McTier, a Gen Zer, had been looking to replace the car she purchased in 2017 this summer, but she was up against sticker shock. She can't wait for the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/banking/when-is-the-next-fed-meeting">Fed to announce rate cuts</a>. She told Business Insider she's been <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/car-prices-falling-forecast-outlook-new-used-electric-vehicle-market-2024-6">holding on to her car</a> "until a solid decision is made" from the Federal Reserve on interest rates."When they are cut, I am going to actively explore the different rates that are available," McTier, who is looking to buy a used vehicle, told Business Insider in August.It could take a while for McTier to see those lower rates. While some parts of the economy will be immediately impacted, there will still be a lag for relief in some sectors."Given the fact that monetary policy does take time to work its way through the system, it'll be the same to some degree with the rate reductions," Mark Hamrick, senior economic analyst for Bankrate, told Business Insider. He added that prime lending rates will likely be adjusted soon after the decision: "Banks adjust their prime lending rates, the rates reserved for their best customers, and those tend to then be reflected in credit card rates immediately," Hamrick said.Credit card interest rates have been at historic highs — a February <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/blog/credit-card-interest-rate-margins-at-all-time-high/">report</a> from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau found that the average annual percentage rate on credit cards has almost doubled over the past decade to 22.8% in 2023. However, the lag means that those hoping to pay off credit cards won't be materially impacted by this month's rate cut — it'll take time for the relief to set in.Rate cuts will also eventually make it cheaper for <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/recession-outlook-small-business-owner-economy-interest-rate-cuts-2024-9">small businesses</a> to take out loans. When it comes to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-fed-rate-cut-could-impact-mortgage-rates-homebuyers-2024-9">buying a new house</a> or car, the rate cuts could make things slightly cheaper, but they likely won't have a significant impact on costs in the short term. That's because rate cuts' effects on the housing market are complicated. A rate cut could <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/buying-home-not-easier-interest-rate-cuts-prices-rent-crisis-2024-8">cause a rush of buyers to enter the market</a> in the short term, driving up prices and competition.Still, some Americans are shaping their finances in anticipation of a rate cut. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nerdwallet.com/h/data/studies-and-data-analysis#rate-cut-actions">NerdWallet</a> found in a July survey that a majority of Americans reported planning to take financial action once interest rates drop, like buying a home or taking out a loan. Almost a quarter of US adults in the survey said they plan to buy a car, while 15% said this about a home."Regardless of what the Fed decides, if you have credit card debt, your credit card debt is going to remain expensive even if interest rates begin to go down a little bit," Sara Rathner, credit cards expert at NerdWallet, said.How are you shaping your finances in anticipation of an interest-rate cut? Are you planning to make any big purchases or investments? Share your story with these reporters at <a target="_blank" href="mailto:asheffey@businessinsider.com">asheffey@businessinsider.com</a> and <a target="_blank" href="mailto:mhoff@businessinsider.com">mhoff@businessinsider.com</a>.

Welcome to interest-rate cut week: Here's how the Fed's next move will impact everything from home prices to new cars loans

<div type="image" title="The RBI has cracked the regulatory whip on NBFCs and banks, who&amp;#39;ve been pushing microfinance and unsecured loans aggressively to grow their loan books." agency="ANI" msid="114778648" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;The RBI has cracked the regulatory whip on NBFCs and banks, who&amp;#39;ve been pushing microfinance and unsecured loans aggressively to grow their loan books.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> Imagine this. You have a younger sibling you’re mighty envious of. And why not? Unlike you, they seem to enjoy all the freedom and money in the world. They party like there’s no tomorrow, and here you are, stuck in a boring, ultra-disciplined but responsible routine that feels completely devoid of any independence, and mostly, funds. But of late, things are changing. This sibling is in massive trouble and just cannot escape the parent’s wrath anymore. Long story short, the party is over, and it is time to go back home. The rising defaults on this sibling’s part have now begun pulling the entire house down, thereby attracting the regulator’s ire. <h2>The Wild West of <keyword id="113684" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="microfinance" source="Orion">microfinance</keyword> and unsecured loans</h2>It's hard to ignore the issues with microfinance and unsecured loans in India. Many saw them as a small gamble and ignored the rising defaults much like the younger siblings’ tantrums, and now they find themselves in hot waters. The skyrocketing instances of non-payments aren't a micro-issue anymore and are threatening the stability of the entire banking system. In the quarter ended September 30, 2024, 5 of India’s 8 largest private sector <keyword id="19934118" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="banks" source="keywords">banks</keyword> reported a steep rise in their bad loan book, mostly thanks to microfinance loans. Some banks, in a bid to strengthen their fortress against these <keyword id="142154" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="bad-loans" source="Orion">bad loans</keyword>, have significantly upped their provisions. For instance, IndusInd Bank set aside Rs 525 crore during July and September 2024 to battle the menace of defaults on microfinance loans, which make up about 9% of its total loan book. See, banks rely heavily on their interest income, which they earn from advancing loans. Any loan where the borrower has not paid interest to the bank or defaulted for 90 days or more becomes bad, i.e. an NPA, or non-performing asset for the bank. And who likes things going bad? Simply put, there has been a steep rise in three areas, much to the dislike of banks and MFIs (micro-finance institutions). But hey, it's mostly their doing! <ol><li>GNPA ratio (gross net performing assets): The quantum of non-performing assets a bank has in proportion to its total assets.</li><li>Provision: The amount banks set aside to take care of such NPAs.</li><li>Slippage ratio: The rate at which good girls go bad, or the speed at which good loans turn into NPAs</li></ol>But how are these plaguing the Indian banking sector? And what does the road ahead look like? We decode it for you. <h2> Microfinance: A not-so-micro-menace</h2>Microfinance loans were initially brought forth for low-income households and individuals i.e. for those who might not generally have access to traditional ways of credit, like bank loans and more. They don’t require collateral or an asset to be pledged in lieu of the loan, making it a tad bit easier for borrowers. As of June 2024, the amount of outstanding loans in the microfinance industry stood at a staggering Rs 4,20,256 crore. Of this, NBFC-MFIs accounted for 40% and banks made for 33% of these. In 2022, RBI, in a bid to inspire some competition in this space, did something radical-they did away with the ceiling on how much interest MFIs could charge their customers. Previously, MFIs could add up to 12% to their cost of acquiring funds to determine the final interest rate chargeable to the consumer. So, assuming that Bank A incurs a 5% cost to acquire funds for further loaning, A could charge up to 17% interest from the end consumer. So, interest rates were in the hands of MFIs, and boy, did they have a gala time with it. Instead of spurring some healthy competition, as RBI expected, MFIs and banks went rogue and all guns blazing, competing for the title of “Who will charge the highest interest?” Recently, RBI banned 4 microfinance institutions (MFIs), namely Asirvad Micro Finance Limited, Arohan Financial Services Limited, DMI Finance Private Limited, and <keyword id="20117932" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="navi-finserv" source="keywords">Navi Finserv</keyword> from disbursing loans effective October 21, 2024. Why? Because they were charging 14% extra interest over their original cost of funds. To maintain their loan books (and pockets), banks and NBFCs resorted to shady practices like netting off loans, which RBI has now advised MFIs against. Here, lenders allow borrowers to settle a previous outstanding loan by issuing them a new loan! As crazy as it sounds, it helped banks to report less of their total assets as NPAs, since the new credit would cover pending instalments of the borrower’s previous loan. Then there was the issue of borrowers overleveraging, i.e. taking multiple loans using different IDs from various lenders and then failing to honour any of them. The consequence? Banks and NBFCs end up with massive NPAs. Data from credit bureaus suggests that over the last quarter, there was a 17.2% rise in the number of borrowers who had 5 or more active loans at the same time. <h2>Growth &gt; Caution</h2>It's an age-old tale unfolding yet again in India’s banking sector- Icarus flew too close to the sun and eventually, fell to its death. Between April and June 2024, NBFCs microfinance portfolio jumped by 2.7%. If you see this in terms of loan sources, microfinance loans issued by banks grew by 11.2% in Q1FY25. But the same portfolio in NBFCs swelled by almost double-23.9%. While most of these loans had an average ticket size between Rs 30,000-50,000, there was a sharp spike in the number of loans that had a ticket size of Rs 80,000 or more. Data suggests that as of March 2024, more than 12% of all microfinance borrowers had over 4 or more active loans. In dating parlance, this is a classic case of borrowers going polyamorous, minus the honesty and transparency. Not the best of situations, you'd agree! <h2>Will banks and NBFCs stand up to this stress?</h2>If their results for Q2FY25 are to be believed, NBFCs are not handling the pressure all that well. Or even slightly well. Only a few banks like Bank of Baroda (BoB), ICICI, and Indian Bank were up for the battle, even witnessing a decline in their loan delinquencies. Some others, like IndusInd Bank, saw their stock dip by a massive 16.2% over the last 5 days. Its slippages in the previous quarter burgeoned from Rs 15.3 billion in Q1FY25 to Rs 17.9 billion in Q2. As a result, the bank pushed a staggeringly high amount of money to create an NPA cushion for itself. While its management has highlighted its preference for secured lending, that was hardly reflected in its actions during the quarter, where growth in unsecured personal loans remained exceptionally high at over 7% on a QoQ basis. Turns out, only 44% of customers in IndusInd Banks’ microfinance loan portfolio were exclusive to it. The rest 47% were, you guessed it right-polyamorous! 27% had borrowed from another lender as well, apart from IndusInd Bank, while 20% were those who had outstanding loans with two other lenders, apart from IndusInd Bank. IndusInd Bank’s credit card segment did not miss the NPA bus and accounted for 7-8% of its GNPAs. Canara Bank’s total slippages during the previous quarter jumped to Rs 11.1 billion, up by 24.7% QoQ, and making up for 3.6% of its total loans. As for Bandhan Bank, its gross NPA for Q2FY25 inched up on a QoQ basis, up from 4.23% in Q1, to 4.68% in the second quarter. IDFC Bank’s heavy provisioning for its NPAs marred its profits significantly, causing its PAT (profit after tax) to dip by 73% on a YoY basis. Data from ICRA Analytics suggest that the AUM (asset under management) growth in microfinance loans and unsecured (personal and business) loans by the NBFCs will moderate to 10-12% and 19-21%, respectively, in FY2025 compared to 30% and 38%, in FY2024. Says A M Karthik, Senior Vice President &amp; Co-Group Head, Financial Sector Ratings, ICRA, “As bank funds constitute a larger share in the overall funding of NBFCs, a slower credit flow from banks to the NBFCs will compress their AUM growth. The NBFCs in unsecured and digital lending businesses shall face a higher squeeze in funding compared to others, and the unsecured lending space will continue to be a source of stress in the near term.” There has been uninhibited growth in <keyword id="6051027" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Unsecured-loan" source="Orion">unsecured loan</keyword>s, apart from just the microfinance segment. For instance, Axis Bank’s gross slippages jumped by Rs 4,443 crore, largely thanks to its unsecured business. The same is the case with Yes Bank, which saw 35–40% of its retail slippages emerging from the unsecured loan portfolio. <keyword id="6376194" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="kotak-mahindra" source="Orion">Kotak Mahindra</keyword> Bank was also quick to follow Yes Bank’s suit, with around 35%-40% of its slippages coming from credit cards. <h2>How is the road ahead?</h2>While RBI has just cracked its whip and served a warning at the moment, experts at Morgan Stanley believe that more changes (read regulatory lashes) are underway. Moreover, with both festive and wedding seasons underway in our country, unsecured lending might pick up momentum, much to the disdain of the calibrated approach banks have been taking towards it so far. But if the situation doesn't improve, RBI will not waste any time in becoming the typical tyrannical <keyword id="19897820" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="bollywood" source="keywords">Bollywood</keyword> headmaster who runs his dominion with an iron fist. However, that's a story for another day. Do you have a topic in mind you'd want a simpler explanation for, or insights or personal experience to share on personal finance and more? Contact us at businessinsider@timesinternet.in.

Simply Put: Is the lending party over? The dangerous tango of Indian banks with microfinance and unsecured loans

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Freddie Mac said Thursday that rates on a typical 30-year fixed mortgage dropped to 6.67%.</li><li>That's the lowest level since June and comes amid optimism for Fed rate cuts in 2024.</li></ul>Mortgage rates for the most popular US home loan fell to the lowest level since June, according to data released Thursday from <a href="https://www.freddiemac.com/pmms" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Freddie Mac</a>. The average 30-year fixed rate dipped to 6.67% from 6.95% the week prior. Back-to-back weeks with rates below 7% come as a welcome sign for house hunters, following 17 consecutive weeks above that threshold.Rates had touched a high of 7.79% in October, and the recent declines have come as markets expect the Fed to ease monetary policy as soon as March 2024."Lower rates are bringing potential homebuyers who were previously waiting on the sidelines back into the market and builders already are starting to feel the positive effects," Freddie Mac said in a statement. "A rise in homebuilder confidence, followed by new home construction reaching its highest level since May, signals a response to meet heightened demand as current inventory remains low."Lower mortgage rates should provide some relief for prospective homebuyers, who have seen historically low affordability conditions. In fact, separate data showed that <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/housing-market-outlook-home-prices-affordable-record-mortgage-rates-investors-2023-12">only 15.5% of homes in 2023 were affordable</a> for the typical American household, the lowest in Redfin data going back to 2013. The real estate group said it determined affordability based on estimated monthly mortgage payments being no more than 30% of a household's median income.High mortgage rates also left homebuyers with limited options over the last year, since current homeowners were reluctant to move and give up the lower rates they secured in the past.

Rates on the most popular US home loan drop to the lowest in 6 months

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Chipmaker GlobalFoundries began offering student loan debt relief to eligible employees this summer.</li><li>The benefit is aimed at helping the company attract and retain workers.</li></ul>When Morgan earned her bachelor's degree in 2018, she graduated with over $20,000 in <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/student-loan-forgiveness-blocked-biden-debt-cancellation-education-department-relief-2024-10">student loan debt</a> that she hoped to pay off by 2032.While she's kept up with her payments — which amount to a few hundred dollars each month — they've made it harder for her and her significant other to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/mortgages/tips-for-saving-for-a-down-payment">save for a home</a> and their future family, the 28-year-old told Business Insider. And she's not alone: More than <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.bankrate.com/loans/student-loans/student-loan-debt-statistics/?tpt=a">40 million Americans</a> collectively held over $1 trillion in federal student debt last year.However, Morgan's <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/student-loans/how-to-pay-off-student-loan-debt-fast">student loan</a> repayment journey has become a little easier over the past year.In May, her employer <a target="_blank" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/stocks/gfs-stock">GlobalFoundries</a> launched a new student loan repayment program that provides qualifying US-based employees up to $28,500 in student debt relief. Morgan is a training coordinator at the New York-based manufacturer of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/semiconductor-chips-jobs-hiring-arizona-tech-phoenix-tsmc-intel-china-2024-1">semiconductor chips</a>, where she develops and implements technical training for the companies' technicians and engineers.Since the launch, a company spokesperson told BI that 237 employees have enrolled and that it's disbursed more than $100,000 in repayment funds. The relief program is helping repay student loans for degrees ranging from associate's to doctorates at more than 80 US colleges and universities.Morgan now expects to fully pay off her remaining $16,000 student debt balance by 2028 — four years earlier than planned."Paying off my student loans at a much faster rate will allow me to save that additional income to invest in our future, our home, and the growth of our family," said Morgan, who asked to be identified by her first name for privacy reasons. "This program is helping me to achieve financial freedom."<div type="image" title="Morgan" height="968" width="1290" msid="114374429" hostid="261" sizebytes="155266"></div>GlobalFoundries is betting that student debt relief will help it attract prospective employees and retain current workers. The company spokesperson told BI that the initial results have been promising."We are pleased to see enrollment numbers continue to increase, coupled with positive employee feedback," the spokesperson said. "This demonstrates the program is making a meaningful impact on the financial well-being of our employees."The company's debt relief program is part of a broader effort by semiconductor companies to grow their workforces as the US pushes for more domestic production of chips that power everything from <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-iphone-chip-shortage-supply-constraints-2021-7">iPhones</a> to <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/chip-shortage-auto-industry-car-buying-dealerships-consumers-inventory-2022-12">cars</a> to <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nvidia-ai-chip-semiconductors-tsmc-intel-jobs-arizona-2024-2">AI tools</a> like ChatGPT.In 2022, President Joe Biden signed the<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/chips-act-bill-to-boost-us-chipmaking-competition-with-china-2022-7"> CHIPS and Science Act</a> into law, which included $52.7 billion in tax breaks and subsidies intended to bolster the US semiconductor industry. However, some industry leaders have raised concerns that there won't be enough <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/semiconductor-certification-program-chipmaker-manufacturing-jobs-new-career-intel-tsmc-2023-8">skilled workers</a> to fill the jobs that will eventually be created.According to a<a target="_blank" href="https://www.semiconductors.org/america-faces-significant-shortage-of-tech-workers-in-semiconductor-industry-and-throughout-u-s-economy/"> report</a> published last year by the trade and lobbying group Semiconductor Industry Association and Oxford Economics, the US semiconductor industry faces a worker shortage of 67,000 people by 2030, including technicians, computer scientists, and engineers."It's not just about attracting talent; it's about retaining talent and ensuring our team feels supported and ready to lead in such a crucial industry," Pradheepa Raman, chief people officer at GlobalFoundries, told BI.To be sure, it's unclear if programs like GlobalFoundries will successfully address the company's workforce needs in the coming years. However, other companies in the semiconductor industry, like <a target="_blank" href="https://affiliate.insider.com?h=73de951b92747ea5bef57a78e50672904ae9aa73440c55d26deb3a0e4fdc24dc&amp;postID=67000ba80c43543ec7a9c940&amp;postSlug=student-loan-debt-relief-globalfoundries-semiconductor-chip-workforce-shortage-2024-10&amp;site=bi&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nvidia.com%2Fen-us%2Fbenefits%2Fmoney%2F529-college-savings-plans%2F">Nvidia</a>, have implemented student loan reimbursement programs. <h2 id="80d0f88b-f671-41e5-a9f5-6e2de733e674">Hiring challenges have forced the company to get creative</h2>In February, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/globalfoundries-and-biden-harris-administration-announce-chips-and-science-act-funding-for-essential-chip-manufacturing-1033079603">$1.5 billion</a> of the CHIPS Act funding was allocated to GlobalFoundries to expand production at the company's Malta, New York chip factory and build a new factory. Additionally, the Biden administration promised another $1.6 billion in federal loans. This is expected to triple GlobalFoundries' production capacity in New York over 10 years and create roughly <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.commerce.gov/news/press-releases/2024/02/biden-harris-administration-announces-preliminary-terms-globalfoundries">1,500</a> manufacturing jobs.However, filling roles like these can be challenging. Raman said GlobalFoundries has faced the same hiring challenges that are impacting the broader US semiconductor industry, which sometimes leads to longer recruitment periods for certain roles.These hiring challenges are among the reasons the company has established partnerships with <a target="_blank" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/globalfoundries-partners-with-micron-and-u-s-national-science-foundation-to-drive-semiconductor-workforce-development-at-minority-serving-institutions-1033407247">universities</a>, community colleges, and STEM programs, in addition to starting an internal apprenticeship <a target="_blank" href="https://gf.com/careers/gf-maintenance-technician-apprenticeship-malta/">program</a> in 2021 — the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.commerce.gov/news/press-releases/2024/02/biden-harris-administration-announces-preliminary-terms-globalfoundries">first</a> of its kind in the semiconductor industry."The demand for skilled workers in technology is outpacing supply, which is why we've been so proactive in our approach to workforce development," Raman said.The company's student debt relief program is just another way it's trying to attract workers.To be sure, debt relief isn't provided all at once. Through a partnership with the education platform EdAssist by Bright Horizons, GlobalFoundries sends a monthly payment directly to an employee's loan provider for up to 10 years.Both current workers and new hires are eligible to apply for the relief program, which the company expects to be an ongoing benefit offered to employees. To continue receiving the relief, an employee must make their minimum student debt payment, have a loan in good standing, and remain employed by GlobalFoundries."GlobalFoundries' contribution applies uniformly to all employees and increases over time with an initial investment of more than $100 a month during the first four years and up to $28,500 over the lifetime of the program," the company spokesperson said.In addition to debt relief, GlobalFoundries also offers a childcare subsidy and paid parental leave — 20 weeks for the birth parent and 12 weeks for the non-birth parent.These perks are helping employees like Stephanie, a marketing specialist based in Austin.After Stephanie earned an MBA in 2015, she said she had about $50,000 in student loan debt — her current balance is about $39,000. She said she signed up for GlobalFoundries' relief program on "day one" and received her first payment less than a month later, the 33-year-old told BI. She asked to be identified by her first name for privacy reasons.<div type="image" title="Stephanie" height="1737" width="2316" msid="114374433" hostid="261" sizebytes="455640"></div>The relief has been a "game changer," Stephanie said. If she stays at her job, she estimates GlobalFoundries will contribute thousands. She said she was only eligible for five years of relief because, under her repayment plan, her loans are supposed to be paid off within that timeframe.Before Stephanie enrolled in the program, she said she was on track to pay off her student debt by 2028. She now expects to pay it off at least one year ahead of schedule."It's made a real difference in reducing my principal and has given me more flexibility for my future instead of feeling constantly tied down by student loans."Do you work in the semiconductor chip industry and have a story to tell? Reach out to this reporter at <a target="_blank" href="mailto:jzinkula@businessinsider.com">jzinkula@businessinsider.com</a>.

One chip company's newest tactic to attract workers: Help pay off their student loans

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="19979912" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="mortgage-rates" source="keywords">Mortgage rates</keyword> are falling but remain high compared to the rates of the past few years.</li><li>Assumable mortgages can help <keyword id="19907145" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="homebuyers" source="keywords">homebuyers</keyword> get lower rates and reduce their monthly payments.</li></ul>Over the past few years, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/mortgages/average-mortgage-interest-rate">US mortgage rates</a> have fluctuated wildly, leaving both homebuyers and sellers scrambling. In 2021, rates fell to as low as 2.1% as the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-fed-rate-cut-could-impact-mortgage-rates-homebuyers-2024-9">Federal Reserve</a> acted to keep the economy ticking during the COVID-19 pandemic. But then inflation spiked. To cool inflation, the Fed implemented a series of rate hikes, pushing mortgage rates to a peak of 7.79% in October 2023, according to data tracked by the <keyword id="19904332" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Federal-Reserve" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Federal Reserve" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Federal Reserve">Federal Reserve</keyword> Bank of St. Louis. But over the last few years, some homebuyers have used a workaround to get lower rates anyway: a lesser-known loan option called an <keyword id="23243178" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="assumable-mortgage" source="keywords">assumable mortgage</keyword>. Assumable mortgages let qualifying buyers take over a seller's existing loan, including its interest rate, principal balance, and other terms. This can lead to significantly lower <keyword id="19950650" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="interest-rates" source="keywords">interest rates</keyword>, making monthly mortgage payments more affordable and saving thousands over the life of the loan. It's important to note that not all loans are eligible for assumption, but ones backed by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) are. 2024, however, has brought some relief from high rates. In January, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/fed-cut-lower-mortgage-rates-should-you-refinance-2024-9">rates</a> hit about 6.7% and have been slowly decreasing since. According to Freddie Mac, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage dropped to 6.2% as of mid-September, its lowest level since February 2023. The Federal Open Market Committee, which oversees US monetary policy, is expected to <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/interest-rate-cuts-decision-this-week-federal-reserve-powell-inflation-2024-9">cut interest rates</a> at its <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/banking/when-is-the-next-fed-meeting">meeting</a> this week. This could lead to further declines in mortgage rates in the coming months. Still, the 2%-ish rates of 2021 aren't likely to return as the Fed remains wary of inflation. So while additional rate declines may ease monthly mortgage payments for some, they won't necessarily make homebuying significantly more affordable for most Americans. For that reason, assumable mortgages still might be the best option for some people to get the lowest rates. Here are the stories of three homebuying couples who secured mortgage rates below 3% since March 2023 using assumable mortgages. They described how they redirected the funds they would have spent on higher monthly mortgage payments into healthcare, renovations, or retirement. <h2>One couple got a 2.6% rate and became the youngest homeowners in their families</h2>In 2022, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/first-time-buyers-got-lowest-best-interest-rate-assumable-mortgage-2024-3">Grace Lucchese</a> had just graduated from college. Her partner, Mickey Ricard, had finished his military service two years prior. The Gen Z couple had moved into an apartment in Lucchese's hometown of Sudbury, Massachusetts — a town about 40 minutes outside Boston — and found themselves spending much of their incomes on rent. "We were paying ridiculous <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/rental-market-housing-affordability-real-estate-apartments-2024-1">prices for rent</a>, and our money was going nowhere," Lucchese told Business Insider. "We also have a dog with special needs, so we wanted to find a home with a backyard." <div type="image" title="Grace Lucchese, Mickey Ricard, and their dog at home." height="1701" width="2268" msid="113465770" hostid="261"></div>For the first-time homebuyers, finding an affordable, well-maintained home in their area was challenging. "During our homebuying search, we looked all around Boston," Lucchese said. "We could not find a home that was move-in ready and under $650,000. We put offers on probably seven different homes and got into bidding wars on two." After months of searching and nearly giving up, Lucchese and Ricard finally found their perfect home: a 1,600-square-foot, two-story Colonial built in 1885 with three bedrooms and one bathroom. The home also came with an assumable mortgage. "Our home was originally listed for $429,000," Lucchese said. "When we were <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/real-estate-investing-how-to-negotiate-best-price-down-2023-4">negotiating with the seller</a> and trying to talk him down on the price, they brought up the assumable loan — I had no clue what that type of mortgage was." After learning about assumable mortgages and realizing they could take over the homeowner's 2.6% rate, they jumped at the opportunity. <div type="image" title="Grace Lucchese and Mickey Ricard's Massachusetts home." height="3024" width="4032" msid="113465773" hostid="261"></div>In January, they made a $13,000 down payment and bought the home for $422,500. With homeowners' insurance included, their monthly payments are around $2,100 — about half of what they would likely pay if they had gotten a traditional mortgage earlier this year. Their mortgage term is 26 years. The couple, now the youngest homeowners in both of their families, are using their monthly savings to renovate their home and help cover their dog's veterinary expenses. "Now that our assumable mortgage is saving us about $2,000 each month, it makes the stress a little less because we have the option of having more money available," Lucchese said. <h2>Retirees who got a 2.75% rate say their lives are easier</h2>In June, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/homebuyer-got-low-mortgage-interest-rate-assumable-mortgage-save-retirement-2024-7">Brian Sankey</a>, a retired military police officer, purchased a $400,000 home in Elizabethtown, Kentucky — a small town south of Fort Knox — with an assumable Veterans Affairs, or VA, mortgage. The loan has a 2.75% interest rate and 26 years remaining on its 30-year fixed-rate term. Sankey said it was "a win-win" situation for him and the seller. "The benefit of a loan assumption for the seller was that it allowed them to sell their home at a higher price," Sankey told BI. "For my wife and me, it allowed us to get a lower interest rate." <div type="image" title="Brian Sankey on the beach." height="1200" width="1600" msid="113465776" hostid="261"></div>Sankey said he learned about the assumption feature of Veterans Affairs mortgages years ago but had forgotten about it over time. It wasn't until he came across the four-bedroom, four-bathroom home in Elizabethtown that his memory was jolted. The home's proximity to an Army base led Sankey to suspect that the sellers might be connected to the military and have taken out a VA loan, making an assumable mortgage possible. He was right. However, getting the seller on board wasn't as easy as Sankey had hoped. "They weren't inclined to do it at first because they felt the assumption process would take too long, and they were looking for a quick sale," he said. "But after about 30 days, they realized that cash buyers wouldn't be throwing money at them and agreed to proceed with the assumption." According to Sankey, the assumption process took just about six weeks from the time he and his wife first viewed the home to closing the loan. "I'm happy I remembered it because it made our home purchase more affordable," he said. "Despite the current market conditions and higher interest rates, my wife and I were able to purchase a larger home with lower monthly payments." A smaller mortgage is allowing Sankey and his wife to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/how-much-do-i-need-to-retire">retire more comfortably</a>. "I can now use the money I would have spent on high-interest payments to cover living expenses," Sankey said. "We should also have more discretionary income." <h2>A couple is able to pay down medical debts after buying a house in Oregon</h2>In 2022, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/couple-got-low-mortgage-when-everyone-getting-high-interest-rate-2024-3">Amy Yzaguirre</a> was diagnosed with cancer. At the time, she and her son were living in Idaho while her husband looked for a job in Oregon. They had planned to reunite in Oregon after he found one and their Idaho home sold. However, following her diagnosis, the couple decided it was best to be together before the Idaho home was sold. Faced with the financial burden of paying the Idaho mortgage and Oregon rent at the same time, they moved into an RV on her parents' property in Tigard, a suburb about 20 minutes outside Portland. "It was pretty rough, but we made it work," Yzaguirre told BI. They lived rent-free in the RV for months while waiting for their Idaho home to sell and Yzaguirre to recover. Then, they began searching for a home to buy in Tigard. <div type="image" title="Amy Yzaguirre and her husband pose in front of the RV they purchased." height="542" width="720" msid="113465772" hostid="261"></div>It wasn't the experience they had hoped for. "It's funny how an area can be a nice, family-friendly, affordable place to live and then suddenly become overpopulated and much more expensive," she said. They eventually toured a townhome in nearby Sherwood listed for $416,000. The seller's flyer noted that a buyer could take over their 2.5% mortgage rate. "I did the math," Yzaguirre said. "The seller was locked in at 2.5%, so if we qualified to assume the loan, our mortgage would be a little over $2,100 a month versus the over $3,000 we would be paying with a traditional mortgage at current market rates. It would save us over $40,000 in the long run." <div type="image" title="Amy Yzaguirre, her husband, and son." height="3024" width="4032" msid="113465778" hostid="261"></div>In March 2023, the couple purchased the townhome for $418,900. They made a down payment of $48,000 and assumed a 30-year fixed-rate FHA loan with an interest rate of 2.5%. They have 28 years left on their mortgage. The money they are saving each month is helping them pay down Yzaguirre's bills. "Even though I was fortunate to have good insurance during chemotherapy and have excellent insurance through my current job, I still had quite a few medical bills to pay off," she said. "With the extra money we have saved on our mortgage payment, I've been able to pay them down." The family also used some of their extra funds to pay off other debts and purchase a Toyota Tacoma pickup truck with cash, covering the full amount upfront Correction: September 19, 2024 — An earlier version of this story misspelled Mickey Ricard’s last name.

3 couples who recently got mortgage interest rates under 3% share how they did it

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Homebuyers seeking lower mortgage rates are snapping up a rare type of loan.</li><li>Assumable mortgages allow buyers to take over a seller's original mortgage.</li></ul>A type of mortgage that can offer ultra-low rates is becoming more popular among homebuyers — but they're rare and difficult to come across, real estate experts say.Buyers have been increasingly turning to <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/mortgages/assumable-mortgage">assumable mortgages</a>, or home-lending schemes where a buyer takes over a seller's mortgage, at the rate it was originally financed.That's likely to lead to a good deal for buyers sifting through homes on the market today. Borrowing costs on the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.freddiemac.com/pmms">30-year-fixed mortgage</a>, the most popular type of mortgage in the US, ticked higher to 6.7% last week, according to Freddie Mac data. Meanwhile, 85% of existing homeowners have a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/states-with-highest-number-of-assumable-mortgages/">mortgage rate under 6%</a>, per an analysis from Realtor.com.Assumable mortgages make up just a small portion of the housing market, though their share of the overall market is quickly rising. 3,825 mortgages financed through the Federal Housing Administration were assumed by a new buyer in 2023, up 72% from the prior year. 2,244 mortgages financed through Veterans Affairs Housing Assistance were also assumed in 2023, up 628% from the prior year.The number of assumable mortgages looks on track to more than double in 2024. 3,477 FHA mortgages were assumed through May of this year, while 1,457 VA mortgages were assumed through March, according to government data cited by the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2024/07/27/assumable-mortgages-cheap-rates/">Washington Post</a>."An assumable mortgage may be especially appealing to buyers as these loans effectively pass a homeowner's current low-rate mortgage to the buyer," Hannah Jones, a senior analyst at Realtor.com, said in a statement.The loans, though, come with a few caveats.For one, only government-sponsored mortgages are eligible to be assumed, such as a mortgage within the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/mortgages/fha-loan">FHA</a> or <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/mortgages/current-va-mortgage-rates#:~:text=VA%20mortgages%20generally%20have%20lower,a%20different%20type%20of%20mortgage.">VA</a> program. Roughly only a quarter of mortgages in the US are assumable, Realtor.com estimated.Second, buyers assuming a mortgage will typically need to put down a higher down payment, which is typically the difference between the sales price of the home and the remaining balance on the pre-existing mortgage. Usually, that payment will be made in cash, unless the buyer can secure another loan financed under today's mortgage rates, Jones said.Third, since assumable mortgages don't offer much upside for lenders, they're often reluctant to offer them in the first place, Realtor.com says. They also note that many lenders don't understand how they work, so they stay away.Real estate experts expect rates on conventional mortgages to stay elevated for the near-future. Rates on the 30-year fixed mortgage are expected to end the year above 6.5%, Realtor.com previously <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.realtor.com/research/2024-national-housing-forecast/#:~:text=Although%20mortgage%20rates%20are%20expected%20to%20begin%20to%20ease%2C%20they,mortgage%2C%20will%20remain%20a%20factor.">forecast</a>, influenced by elevated interest rates in the economy.

Homebuyers are flocking to a type of loan that offers a lower mortgage rate. But they often require bigger down payments, and lenders don't like to give them.

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