As mortgage rates eclipsed 7%, homebuilders employed an intricate strategy to drive sales – subsidizing rate buydowns to reduce monthly payments. This phenomenon flies under the radar but understanding its financial mechanics and marketplace role helps buyers evaluate the best purchase path.
What is a Rate Buydown?
A rate buydown allows a homebuyer to pay below the prevailing mortgage rate, facilitated by the builder or seller footing the bill to “buy” a lower rate. They come in two structures:
Temporary Buydowns
The subsidized rate only applies for the first 1-3 years before adjusting to the standard rate. A 2-1 buydown discounts the rate by 2% in year 1 and 1% in year 2.
Permanent Buydowns
The reduced rate persists for the full mortgage term. Builders may buy rates down to as low as 4.75% permanently when wanting to quickly sell completed inventory homes.
Simplifying Rate Buydowns
With mortgage rates hovering around 7% it motivates homebuilders to creatively subsidize financing through “buydowns” – temporarily reducing rates for buyers.
How Buydowns are Structured
1-0 Buydown: Lowers the rate 1% in Year 1 only before resetting to 7%.
2-1 Buydown: Commonly used structure with a 5% interest rate in Year 1, 6% in Year 2 before returning to the 7% fixed baseline.
3-2-1 Buydown: Features a 4/5/6% stepped pattern over the first three years before the permanent 7% rate takes effect.
According to most lenders, that two-year discount on initial payments via the 2-1 buydown drives the most demand. Buyers, both salaried and self-employed borrowers, appreciate the flexibility to manage future rate changes as their income grows or experience challenges.
Buydown Costs & Builder Incentives
For builders subsidizing buydowns, each quarter-point rate reduction runs around $20,000 per $500,000 mortgage. Yet firms readily shoulder $50K-plus buydown costs to spur sales.
Mathematically, locking in $100 monthly savings resembles dropping the sale price $20,000. This tradeoff makes sense currently and requires no community-wide price cuts that may destabilize markets.
By maintaining public listing rates, the opaque buydown subsidies aren’t visible to appraisers either. This strategy looks unsustainable long-term but for now, builders gamble that driving volume outweighs margin hits. So far, the incentives show no signs of slowing in hot housing markets like Colorado.
Buydown Costs
Buydowns carry massive costs scaling with loan size. Each 0.25% rate reduction equals “discount points” costing 1% of the mortgage amount. On a $500,00 home and $400,000 loan with a 7% rate, buying the rate down by 1% to 6% costs $16,000 at closing.
Who Foots the Bill?
Large homebuilders like Lennar often have affiliated lenders, allowing seamless buydown transactions later sold to govt. agencies like Fannie Mae. This mortgage subsidiary model resembles automakers with financing wings, like Lexus Financial Service powering 0-1.99% loan deals.
Sellers with existing homes also help homebuyers through closing credits to keep their home price closer to the list price. During periods of home price declines, condos tend to fall slightly more than a detached home. Condominium sellers can use the same strategy as homebuilders if they have enough equity.
Buydown Rationale – Why Builders Subsidize
Fueling sales is the singular focus. As John Burns Consulting discovered surveying Florida builders, 5.5% interest rate emerges as a “magic number” enticing buyer to act. By promoting this rate to the public, builders realize they need to sacrifice margins to hit their target.
And it works – temporary programs like Lennar’s “Inflation Buster” attracted buyers in droves this year in high-demand areas like Colorado. As 2023 expectations of falling rates fade, these aggressive buydowns of market rates continue, especially on recently completed homes requiring fast turnaround.
Examine All Mortgage Options
On November 6th, 2023, the average 30-year fixed rate sat at 8.1 percent. Meanwhile, shorter-duration products offered lower pricing – 6.8 percent for 15-year fixed rates and 7.1 percent for 5/1 adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs). Under 5/1 programs, the initial rate holds steady for five years before adjusting annually thereafter.
Given volatile forecasts, flexibility now resonates. “It’s truly impossible to reliably predict rate movements over the next two years,” says loan officer Jody Petrillo. “But certainly no models anticipated reaching today’s 8 percent peak.” Petrillo notes ARM products balance current affordability with future refinance options should pricing improve.
Seek New Construction Bargains
Limited resale inventory shifted focus towards the new-build market. “For buyers, the fourth quarter is truly the optimal period for builder incentives,” confirms Heather Christensen of The Agency. As 2023 fiscal closings approach, construction firms promote concessions accelerating sales. Examples include closing credits, upgraded features, and temporary rate buydowns lessening initial payments.
Impactful Builder Examples
Notable homebuilding giant Lennar (#119 Fortune 500) was offering a 4.75 percent fixed rate or $33,500 closing cost credit through October 16th across select Colorado communities. Compare this to Lennar’s September 19th promotion featuring 4.25 percent financing.
Today Lennar is offering a rate of 4.99% or up to $5,000 for closings until the end of the year. It’s evidence that incentives amidst rising general rates is decelerating and not sustainable. When mortgage rates climb initially, builder subsidies typically increase to attract home buyers.
Crunching the Numbers
Buydowns carry massive expenses – up to $50,000+ per home. But builders seem unconcerned on how it impacts their profit margins. The math likening rate discounts to price cuts (saving $100/month akin to a $20K cheaper house) shows why huge incentives are compelling.
The Missing Data
Unfortunately, contract sale prices omitting rate buydown costs offer incomplete housing market insight. If home sellers’ closing costs credit is known and reported by appraisal reports, why isn’t a home builders credit disclosed? Beneath the surface, effective home values greatly diverge from published median prices given layers of hidden motivations compelling builders.
This matters when evaluating true home affordability. On paper, the picture looks brighter thanks to “stubborn” high prices amidst low sales traffic. But unquantified incentives directed at nudging buyers forward muddy analyses. Assessments must account for this veiled, but meaningful, distortion.
Homebuyer Takeaway
Buyers shouldn’t resign themselves to deleterious rate lock-in. Builders want to move inventory, especially completed homes. This motivates major mortgage subsidies through year-end. Leverage competitor dynamics securing whichever rate, credit, or upgrade works for your budget. The market still rewards buyers who are committed to deal hunting.
