Current Real Estate Interest Rates

After the recent announcement by the government to buyout personal mortgages on November 25th, interest rates have dropped significantly. Rates on 30 year fixed mortgages are at their lowest level since January. Because of the recent troubled economic times, this dramatic drop in fixed conventional interest rates has driven it to national averages that are below the average interest rate for 5 year conventional Adjustable Rate Mortgages. ARMs are a mortgage in which a lower interest rate is locked in for the first 5 years and then subject to adjust according to prime interest rates.

The current national averages for mortgages are 5.65% for a 30 year fixed conventional mortgage, 5.38% for a 15 year fixed conventional mortgage, 7.03% for a 30 year fixed jumbo mortgage, 5.95% for a 5/1 conventional ARM, and 6.02% for a 5/1 jumbo ARM.

The possibility that interest rates may become even lower seems likely. Many feel that the government is weighing plans to drive rates as low as 4.5%. This would be a historical low. However, even at this historical low, many experts feel that it still will not be enough of a drop to stabilize the current housing market.

Due to the current drop in rates there has also been an increase in the amount of applications for refinancing. Many considerations must be weighed when deciding whether or not refinancing a mortgage would be beneficial.

To help you decide if you can afford a mortgage, there are numerous online mortgage calculators available. If you are interested in refinancing, you can also find online refinancing calculators as well just by doing a search.