Mortgage Rates Hover Near All Time Lows

There was not much movement in most of the major mortgage products this week. The 30 year rate dropped from 4.86 to 4.82. This is only slightly above the 4.78 all time low that was reached a few weeks ago. The 15 year rate dropped from 4.52 to 4.50. There was some interesting movement with the 5 and 1 year arm. The 5 year arm dropped from 4.82 to 4.79. At the same time the 1 year arm rose from 4.71 to 4.82. This is the first time the 1 year arm has been above the 5 year arm. Regardless both rates are pointless because they are at or near the same rates for a 30 year arm; therefore there is no reason to get an arm instead of a 30 year mortgage in the current market. Below are mortgage rates for the last few weeks and from 6 months ago on November 20, 2008.

May 21, 2009

30-yr 4.82 15-yr 4.50 5-yr ARM 4.79 1-yr ARM 4.82

May 14, 2009

30-yr 4.86 15-yr 4.52 5-yr ARM 4.82 1-yr ARM 4.71

May 07, 2009

30-yr 4.84 15-yr 4.51 5-yr ARM 4.90 1-yr ARM 4.78

Apr 30, 2009

30-yr 4.78 15-yr 4.48 5-yr ARM 4.80 1-yr ARM 4.77

Nov 20, 2008

30-yr 6.04 15-yr 5.73 5-yr ARM 5.87 1-yr ARM 5.29

As we can see rates have not experienced much movement in the last month. They have continued to hover around all time lows for the month of May. They remain substantially lower than what we saw 6 months ago. In addition to rates we always like to look at actual mortgage payments. We took today's rates and translated them into a mortgage payment for a 200k mortgage. We did the same thing with rates from last week and rates from November 20, 2008.

May 21

30-yr $1051.74

15-yr $1529.98

5-yr ARM $1048.12

1-yr ARM $1051.74

May 14

30-yr $1056.59

15-yr $1532.03

5-yr ARM $1051.74

1-yr ARM $1038.47

Nov 20

30-yr $1204.24

15-yr $1658.67

5-yr ARM $1182.43

1-yr ARM $1109.36

A mortgage payment this week is slightly lower than what it would have been last month. This is nothing compared to the saving one would get compared to 6 months ago. For a 200k house a mortgage payment is $152.50 less a month now than it would have been on November 20, 2008 for a drop of 12.66%. This is often forgotten when the media talks about home prices being down 15% to 20%. After one factors in mortgage rates along with falling house prices the actual payments could be down over 30%.

So what do we expect to happen over the next few months? As long as the economy stays week mortgage rates will probably continue to hover around just under 5%. Once the economy starts to recover the general expectation is that rates should start to rise. It's hard to know how high mortgage rates will go once the economy recovers. Estimates have ranged from 10% to 18%. Most of this will depend on how quickly the economy recovers and if the FED moves quickly enough to changes policies from boosting the economy to slowing inflation.


Ki lives in Austin Texas. He website provides a free Austin home search. He also provides a mortgage calculator widget along with a few other mortgage widgets that show updated information on mortgage rates.

A Beginner’s Guide to Using a Mortgage Broker

A mortgage broker is able to utilise industry knowledge and experience to source deals that can be beneficial to an applicant. Thanks to legislation in favour of the consumer, the broker must offer advice that is appropriate to the applicant’s circumstances and can be held financially liable if their information or advice is later found to be defective or misleading.

Therefore a broker must assess the borrower’s circumstances before making any contact with a lender; this may include a credit report supplied by one of the three credit reference agencies (Experian, Equifax and Creditcall) and verification of income to support the premise that the mortgage is affordable. The broker is also responsible for completing the lender application form, gathering all the required documents from the applicant, explaining all the legalities of the mortgage agreement and submitting all the relevant material to the lender.

There are, in essence, two types of mortgage broker: those who are ‘whole of market’ brokers and those who work with a smaller, select panel of lenders. Whole of Market brokers, such as The Mortgage Broker Ltd, offer applicants the opportunity to select their mortgage product from any available UK lender they choose. This approach is ideal for those who are not confident in their working knowledge of mortgages, those who have adverse credit ratings and for those who simply do not have the time to thoroughly research the mortgage market.

Brokers who use smaller panels of lenders are more restricted in the choice of product they can offer. In turn, this can also limit their experience in certain types of mortgage, given that they may be used to dealing with a set number of lenders and their associated products. An experienced broker, however, may have the power to negotiate terms, on behalf of his or her client, that may have seemed previously unattainable. The broker may also be able to begin and finish the entire procurement process on the client’s behalf.

All mortgage brokers are regulated by the Financial Services Authority, offering the consumer an added degree of protection as, should the broker’s information to the lender prove to be inaccurate, they can be held responsible for any financial problems that have been incurred. They are obliged to ensure that their advice caters for the needs of the applicant, whilst taking into account the lender’s criteria, ensuring that the client receives entirely impartial advice.

As well as the basic service of mortgage procurement, many mortgage brokers also offer further services and advice on other aspects of mortgaging, including re-mortgages, buy to let, self-certification and adverse credit mortgages. Mortgage brokers now cater for over 68% of all mortgage deals across the UK. With the often confusing jargon offered by financial institutions and the lack of explanatory literature offered by the internet, it is not hard to see why.

Guest Post by Steven Clarke – Marketing Manager – The Mortgage Broker – Providing a mortgage comparison of the whole mortgage lender market to find you the best mortgage loan rates. Visit the Mortgage Broker to get a quote on the type of mortgage you want.