January 2015 v. January 2014: The Difference a Year Makes in Interest Rates

• January 15th 2015

by Lark Turner

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Long-term mortgage rates fell for the third straight week as Freddie Mac reported 3.66 percent as the average on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage on Thursday. Rates were 4.41 percent a year ago.

Freddie Mac’s chief economist Frank Nothaft attributed the drop to falling oil prices and dropping long-term treasury yields, but noted the strength of the economy and the low unemployment rate of 5.6 percent, the lowest since June 2008.

Given the disparity between current rates and rates last January, UrbanTurf decided to take a look at what the difference in monthly mortgage payments would be for someone that purchased a home last year versus someone buying the same house at today’s rates. If you bought a house around this time last year, cover your ears.

To calculate the below, we looked at purchasing a $500,000 house with a 20 percent down payment, with taxes and insurance omitted. For a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage at the average rate, here’s what you’d save:

January 2014: The average mortgage rate was 4.41 percent.

Monthly mortgage payment: $2,206
Total outlay on mortgage (monthly payment x 360 months): $794,160

January 2015: The average mortgage rate is 3.66 percent.

Monthly mortgage payment: $2,015
Total outlay on mortgage (monthly payment x 360 months): $725,400

So, the difference between a rate of 3.66 percent and 4.41 percent is about $191 a month or $68,760 over the life of the loan.

We’re tracking the path of long-term rates since January 2010 in this chart:

The UrbanTurf Mortgage Rate Disclaimer: The rates reported by Freddie Mac for 30-year mortgages are usually the best rates that the most qualified borrowers can get, so borrowers or those considering refinancing should not necessarily read this news and think that they can go out and get a loan with the quoted interest rate.

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/3.66_percent_mortgage_rates_at_lowest_level_since_may_2013/9410.