While we saw mortgage interest rates drop a bit to begin the last 30 days, they are now back in essentially the same place they were at this point in September 2019. The small recent change will save new borrowers over a $4.50 per month for every $100,000 borrowed. Average U.S. rates for 30-year fixed rate mortgages were at 3.65% as of this week. Last month at this time, they were sitting at 3.73%.
Recent forecasts for changes in interest rates have been all over the board. Quite frankly, a good case can be made for rates staying relatively flat in the short-term. Regardless of any movement we see, we will still be considerably lower than the long-term average mortgage interest rates in our country.
While it’s hard to believe in today’s environment, the long-term average is still almost 8%. When you compare monthly payments at today’s rates versus the long-term average, homeowners are currently saving about $275 per month per $100,000 borrowed. That makes mortgaging today’s homes considerably more affordable than historic averages.
Mortgages are also less expensive now than they were last year at this time. The average decrease in monthly payments per $100,000 borrowed with a 30-year fixed price mortgage is around $44 per month. If you max out a conventional mortgage, that means your monthly payment will be around $224 less per month now than it would have been in January 2019.