Rising Mortgage Rates

2013-07-07 Mortgage Rates Since 1990

As those actively looking for a home can tell you, mortgage rates have risen sharply in the past two months. The chart to the right shows the average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate loan since the beginning of the year. The chart is from the Bankrate.com site. From January through the beginning of May, mortgage interest rates bounced around the 3.5% level. But then, over the course of a little more than a month they

Mortgages: Purchasing Power versus Conservatism

We’ve been thinking a lot about mortgages lately. Something that jumps out at us is just how much of an opportunity the combination of declining mortgage rates and falling home prices has created for buyers. Interest rates for 30-year fixed mortgages were around 6% during the early and mid-2000s when we bought our house. Those same loans are now available for interest rates of 4% or less, and 15-year fixed mortgages are available for just