recent mortgage rates

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:thanks, this is good info. i'm especially interested in 30 year rates, around $500K.

The threshold for a jumbo loan is $417K, so if you're loan is around $500K, expect to pay about a quarter point more. I got a 4.875%, 30 yr fixed, conforming, no points about a month ago. I've heard that interest rates have dropped in the last few weeks, so you might get a better deal now.

For the PP asking about points, one point is 1% of your loan amount. You can "buy" a better interest rate by paying points. For example, for a $500K loan, the rate w/o points may be 5.25%. If you pay one point ($5,000), you can get a rate of 5.00% instead. The points are tax deductible, just like mortgage interest.

One point generally gets you a 0.125 reduction. To reduce by .25, you would have to pay two points. Plus, in the DC area and other high cost areas, there are three tiers of loans, not two. Today, Wells Fargo's interest rate for 30 year fixed below $417k is 4.75%; between 417k and 730k, 4.875%, and above 730k, 5.5%. With interest rates as low as they are, it's really debatable whether it is worth paying points at all. I would say no.