Survey: Consumers are worried about making house payments

A growing number of homeowners in the U.S. are expressing concerns about making their monthly mortgage payments on time, according to a new survey. These concerns have manifested in borrowers taking on second jobs, borrowing money from family and friends or skipping vacations in order to keep their house payments current.

The survey, conducted by LendingTree, asked 1,400 Americans about their comfort levels with their current mortgage payment. Seventy percent said they have had to make a sacrifice in other areas of their spending habits to pay for housing including 37 percent who say they skipped a vacation, 22 percent who continue to work at a job they dislike and 20 percent who have had to par back their grocery budget.

Millions of homeowners in the U.S. remain eligible to refinance their existing mortgage to lock in a lower rate and thereby reduce their monthly payment. Today, conforming no-point 30-year fixed mortgage rates are averaging 3.0 percent and 15-year rates are near 2.25 percent.

Do you have a question for Real Estate & Mortgage Analyst Mehran Aram? Submit your queries about a home purchase, refinance, or reverse mortgage via Aramco.biz, social media (#AramcoReport), or over the phone at (877) 700-0942 and your questions may be featured in an upcoming article.