A Home on the Cheap(er)

SF Gate reports:

Rates on 30-year mortgages fell slightly last week but remained just ahead of record lows posted this month, Freddie Mac said Thursday.
Real Estate

Average rates on 30-year fixed mortgages dipped to 4.8 percent from 4.82 percent the previous week, Freddie Mac said. Last year at this time, the average rate on a 30-year mortgage was 6.03 percent. It has been below 5 percent for six straight weeks.

The all-time low of 4.78 percent was recorded the week of April 2. Freddie Mac's survey dates back to 1971.

Freddie Mac also said the average rate on a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage was 4.48 percent last week, unchanged from the previous week.

Rates on five-year adjustable-rate mortgages fell to 4.85 percent from 4.88 percent - the lowest since Freddie Mac began tracking it in January 2005.

The below chart shows the importance of these low rates... a reduced mortgage payment. Assuming a $160,000 loan (a $200,000 home with 20% down), the monthly payment has now dropped to a little more than $850 per month, down from $1000 last Fall.



Source: Freddie Mac