We saw mortgage interest rate change direction and start moving up in the last 30 days. The recent increase will cost new borrowers an additional $7.34 per month for every $100,000 borrowed. Average U.S. rates for 30-year fixed rate mortgages were at 3.73% as of this week. Last month at this time, they were sitting at 3.60%. The slow and steady decline since November 2018 has halted for now.
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 over 8%. When you compare monthly payments at today’s rates versus the long-term average, homeowners are currently saving about $273 per month per $100,000 borrowed. That makes mortgaging today’s homes considerably more affordable than historic averages.
Even with the recent rise, mortgages are 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 $68 per month. If you max out a conventional mortgage, that means your monthly payment will be around $333 less per month now than it would have been in September of 2018.