How Much Higher Will Mortgage Rates Go This Year

With the Fed’s aggressive actions in raising rates to tackle inflation, economists are predicting that rates will continue rising for the remainder of the year. This is based on the dramatic rise of the 10 year Treasury yield over the last month to which mortgage rates are loosely tied. The …

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College and University Tuition Rates Increasing

As a part time MBA student, with a single income and young family, I am particularly sensitive to rising education costs. So I was dismayed to see that my university’s (already expensive) tuition costs were again rising. This is the third year in a row and my degree will end …

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15 Year Versus 30 Year Fixed Rate Mortgages – How to Determine Which is the Better Option

As mortgage rates continue to hover at 30 year lows, many people are wondering whether a 15-year or a 30-year mortgage term is a better option. After all, even though payments on the 15-year option would be higher, the lower interest rates on the shorter term loan are keeping payments, in many cases, at very manageable levels.

With the average 15-year interest rate near 3.5 percent for those with good credit, versus around 4.5 percent for a 30-year mortgage, it’s hard not to at least consider the shorter term mortgage option. Further the higher payments, lower interest rate, and shorter repayment term of the 15-year mortgage option allows people to pay down their principal much faster, too.

Apparently quite a number of homeowners have jumped to 15-year mortgages lately. In fact, according to data from CoreLogic, for the first half of this year, over 25 percent of homeowners who refinanced went with a 15-year option. This is a drastic increase over past years, when only about 9.4 percent of home owners went that route.

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