15-year mortgage rate Vs. 30-year mortgage rate.
A 30-year mortgage financing loan has always been the most popular for consumers purchasing a house, but another loan is starting to increase its popularity. The 15-year mortgage loan, as a result of the record-low interest rates that are available nationwide, are increasing in popularity amongst buyers.
Consumers are slowly turning to 15-year loans because of how affordable they have grown since 2010.Statistics from the Mortgage Bankers Association show that a 15-year loan accounted for 23 percent of refinancing applications in November of last year. This is up 51 percent from a year earlier. For the whole year, 15-year mortgages made up 35 percent of all refinance loans. In 2007, 15-year mortgage loans made up for only 8.5 percent of the refinance market.
Rates are becoming extremely affordable for a 15-year loan, so more consumers do not mind the higher monthly payment because of amount that they are saving in the long run. Consumers are saving themselves in the tens of the thousands in interest over the life of the loan vs. the life of a 30-year loan.
The chart below illustrates the savings generated from obtaining a 15-year mortgage vs the traditional 30-year one. On a median priced home of $366,930, a homeowner could save up to $117,000. Figure 1 breaks down payment and interest schedule for the two types of loans.
The saving is the result of the historically low rates, which are also lower for 15-year loans. While the mortgage rates are not going to stay this low, as Frank Nothaft, chief economist at Freddie Mac, said “a 15-year fixed is three-quarters of a percentage point even lower…. You can lock that in and never have to worry about refinancing again.”
Jamie Mixon
Top Louisiana Real Estate Agent
Keller Williams
The Mixon Team
1522 W. Causeway Approach
Mandeville, LA
Phone: 985-277-1063
Fax: 985-727-7001
