We saw mortgage rates drop a little bit more in the last 30 days. The most recent decrease will save new borrowers an additional $5.81 per month for every $100,000 borrowed. Average U.S. rates for 30-year fixed rate mortgages were at 4.07% as of this week. Last month at this time, they were sitting at 4.17%. We have seen a slow and steady decline since November.
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 for the rest of the year. 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 over 8%. When you compare monthly payments at today’s rates versus the long-term average, homeowners are currently saving about $255 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 $27 per month. If you max out a conventional mortgage, that means your monthly payment will be around $133 less per month now than it would have been in May of 2018.