Click here for Mobile Site: http://m.kdka.com
  • Font Size    

Most Popular Videos Featured On KDKA.com

Area Spared From Severe Flooding
E-mail

Close Window E-mail This Page

Mortgage Interest Rates Fall

Required fields are marked with an asterisk(*)

The information you provide will be used only to send the requested e-mail and will not be used to send any other e-mail communications. Read more in our Privacy Policy

Send E-mail

   Print     Share +    Comments
Dec 4, 2008 7:50 pm US/Eastern

Mortgage Interest Rates Fall

Reporting
Jon Delano
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) ― Mortgage interest rates are dropping -- and that could make it easier for folks to buy a home, kick-starting the sagging housing industry.
 
For current homeowners, it may be time to re-finance to get a more attractive rate.

That could leave you a lot more cash in your pocket each month to spend on something else.

For most people with home mortgages, it's the largest single payment they make each month -- the monthly mortgage check -- and now there's some good news.

"It's really a nice thing we've seen mortgage rates drop dramatically over the last week," says Kevin Laird, a mortgage broker with Howard Hanna Mortgage Services.

Mortgage rates are now at 5-1/2 percent -- and Laird told KDKA Money Editor Jon Delano he thinks they will go lower.

"Rates will go a little bit lower."

"Below 5 percent?"

"Ah, we hope."

Lower interest rates make it a whole lot easier to both buy and sell a house because it lowers your monthly mortgage payments, and if you're looking to refinance lower interest rates can save you thousands of dollars.

Take a standard 30-year fixed mortgage of $135,000 on a $150,000 home.
At this year's earlier rate of 6-1/8 percent, the monthly mortgage payment was $820.

A today's rate of 5-1/2 percent, the payment drops to $766. If rates keep heading down, at 5 percent, the monthly payment dips to $724, while at 4-1/2 percent, the monthly payment would only be $684 -- a savings of nearly $50,000 over the life of the mortgage.

Appearing at a taping of the Sunday Business Page, PNC Chief Economist Stuart Hoffman said this was good news for everyone.

"It means that people's mortgage rates come down and they can fix them. They don't have to see them adjust upward and they can lower their payments," Hoffman said.

"Anything that lowers the amount of payments that people have to make on their homes, especially if their homes are going down in value, is helpful over time for the economy and home prices."

Many experts think the mortgage rates could go lower, as the government is pushing a plan to bring the rates down to 4-1/2 percent. 

(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

Featured Slideshows On KDKA.com

Add Comment

here. here. Need a log in? Register here
  •  * Will not be displayed with comment
  •  * e.g. (http://www.mywebsite.com)
  •  
  • Click here to refresh with new letters

Show Comments (0)

Close Window Login


Close Window Flag Comment


loading...
You need the latest Flash player to view video content.
Click here to download.

Click here to bypass this detection if you already have the latest Flash Player.

Business

Top News Stories

© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.