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Where Were You When Mortgage Rates Were Last This Low?
December 14th, 2008 categories: Loans / Financing
Although turmoil still surrounds the world’s financial markets, for those looking to buy or refinance a home, the last six weeks have been a case of Let-The-Good-Times-Roll. That’s because interest rates on long-term (30-year) mortgages have dropped to levels not seen since in over four years.
In its weekly Primary Mortgage Market Survey for the week ending Dec. 11, Freddie Mac reported that the national average for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages was 5.47% (with the buyer paying 0.7 discount points). The week before it was 5.53% and a year ago, that same loan carried an interest rate of 6.11%.
The last time 30-year fixed-rate loans were this low was in March, 2004, when it averaged 5.4%. Fifteen-year loans were also down again this week, with the 15-year-fixed rate at 5.2% (also with 0.7 discount points paid by the buyer). That’s the lowest that rate has been has Feb. 7 of this year.
Short-term mortgage rates, meanwhile, were up slightly, with the five-year Treasury-indexed adjustable-rate mortgage up by 0.05%, to 5.77%. That’s still lower than a year ago, when that same loan was at 5.89%.
If you’ve been thinking of buying or refinancing, the combination of today’s low home prices coupled with low interest rates means more buying power. If you’re interested in seeing how far your housing dollar will stretch today, call or email us and we’ll be happy to help you ‘run the numbers.’
