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How Interest Rate Changes Affect Mortgage Rates
Mortgage rates depend on the interest rate the government charges to lend money to banks--the federal lending rate. Variable mortgage rates are often a fixed percentage above this "prime rate."
Long term and short term treasury bond rates also indicate the trend in long term (30 year fixed rate) and short term (e.g., 7 year fixed with balloon payment) mortgage rates.
If the 30 year treasury index is higher than the 5 year treasury index, the overall trend in interest rates are upward.
If the 30 year treasury index is lower than the 5 year treasury index, the overall trend in interest rates is downward.
What if interest rates are headed upward?
For a $100,000 loan, for every quarter point increase in a mortgage rate you will pay about $20.83 per month more in interest charges.
For a $100,000 mortgage, you will pay about $416.67 per month in interest if the mortgage rate is 5%. If the interest rate increases to 5.25%, you will pay about $437.50 per month in interest charges. That's an increase of $20.83.
So, if interest rate are increasing, there is increasing pressure to get a consolidation loan soon.
What if interest rates are headed downward?
On a $100,000 mortgage loan, every time the mortgage rate drops by a quarter point, you will save about $20.83 per month in interest charges.
Let's say you have $30,000 in credit card debt at 18%. This is costing you about $450 per month in interest charges.
Consolidating this $30,000 debt into a 5% mortgage would cost you $125 per month in interest. You would save ($450 - $125=) $325 per month in interest charges.
It would cost you $325 per month to wait for a better mortgage rate deal. This simply is not worth it.
After you get a consolidation loan, if mortgage rates continue to decline, you can always refinance you mortgage at a lower rate and get the benefit of lower interest payments.
It would still be smart to consolidate as soon as possible.
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