Is 7% a good interest rate for a house?
Compared to where rates were just a couple of years ago, a 7% mortgage rate is extremely high. But now, many borrowers who got their mortgage in the last year likely have rates of 7% or higher. Depending on your score, you may get a rate in the 7% range right now.
Top-tier borrowers could see mortgage rates in the mid-6% range, while lower-credit and non-QM borrowers could expect rates well above 7%. Of course, mortgage rates are famously volatile and it's possible a good mortgage rate next year might be substantially higher than what it is today.
Here's why 7% mortgage rates are so much worse for buyers now than 20 years ago. Mortgage rates haven't been this high for over two decades, but it's far worse to be a homebuyer now than then. Buyers are still sticker-shocked by the memory of historically low rates when they could afford so much more two years ago.
What does a 7% interest rate on a savings account mean? When an account pays 7% APY, you'll earn 7% on your balance over a year. Most banks compound interest, which means they pay interest both on the amount you've deposited and the interest you've earned on top of it.
Thirty-year mortgage rates have dropped for a seventh straight day, and Thursday's decline takes the average down to 6.94%. This marks only the third time the flagship average has been below 7% in 2024. Rates were also down for most other loan types as well on Thursday.
No one likes it when interest rates go up, but it's not the end of the world. This is still a great time to buy a house—you'll just pay more than you would've a couple years ago. It's also a good time to sell a house. And if you already have a fixed-rate mortgage locked in, you're in good shape too.
At a 7.00% fixed interest rate, a 30-year $100,000 mortgage may cost you around $665 per month, while a 15-year mortgage has a monthly payment of around $899.
Near the end of October 2022, the 30-year mortgage rate jumped from 6.94% to 7.08%, according to Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac. Prior to that, the last time the average mortgage rate hovered around 7% was in April of 2002.
In summary, it is unlikely that mortgage rates in the US will ever reach 3% again, at least not in the foreseeable future. This is due to a combination of factors, including: Higher Inflation: Inflation is currently at a 40-year high in the US, and the Federal Reserve is raising interest rates to combat it.
Today's national mortgage interest rate trends
For homeowners looking to refinance, today's current average 30-year refinance interest rate is 7.10%. Meanwhile, today's current average 15-year fixed refinance interest rate is 6.60%. For now, the consensus is that mortgage rates will ease down in 2024.
What 7% means for home buyers?
Focus on the monthly payments
For example, financing a $440,000 home with a 20% down payment at a 7% mortgage rate would mean a monthly mortgage payment of roughly $2,300, while a 6% mortgage rate would save a buyer about $200 a month, she said.
The difference between a slightly more than 3% mortgage rate and a 7% mortgage rate adds roughly an additional $1,000 mortgage payment to a typical, new median-priced single-family home and prices 18 million U.S. households out of the market for the home.
As mortgage rates hit 8%, home 'affordability is incredibly difficult,' economist says. The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate hit 8% for the first time since 2000. Homebuyers must earn $114,627 to afford a median-priced house in the U.S., according to a recent report by Redfin, a real estate firm.
When Will Mortgage Rates Go Down? Mortgage rates are expected to decline when Federal Reserve policymakers cut the benchmark interest rate, which is likely to happen in the second half of 2024. But as long as inflation runs hotter than the Fed would like, rates will remain elevated at their current levels.
Mortgage rates have been historic in their own right during the past few years. The average 30-year fixed rate reached an all-time record low of 2.65% in January 2021 before surging to 7.79% in October 2023, according to Freddie Mac.
Mortgage rate predictions 2024
The MBA's forecast suggests that 30-year mortgage rates will fall into the 6.1% to 6.9% range in 2024, and NAR's forecast is very similar, predicting that rates will remain in the 6.1% to 6.8% range.
While a lower interest rate can make homeownership significantly more affordable, selecting a lower home price is something that's within your control. It's ideal to have both a low interest rate and low home price. But you'll likely build equity faster if you choose a home with a lower price.
Despite the recent surge, most housing market experts expect mortgage rates to recede over 2024, especially once the Federal Reserve begins its expected interest rate cuts. But whether lower rates will create a meaningful shift in home affordability remains to be seen.
Product | Interest rate | APR |
---|---|---|
30-year fixed-rate | 6.495% | 6.575% |
20-year fixed-rate | 6.275% | 6.373% |
15-year fixed-rate | 5.795% | 5.939% |
10-year fixed-rate | 5.547% | 5.778% |
If I Make $100,000 A Year What Mortgage Can I Afford? You can afford a home price up to $385,000 with a mortgage of $365,750. This assumes a 5% down conventional loan at 7%, standard mortgage insurance, low debts, good credit, and a total debt-to-income ratio of 45%.
How much is a 400 000 mortgage at 7 percent?
Sticking with the example in the section above, a 30-year $400K mortgage at a 7% interest rate would have a monthly payment of $2,661. Meanwhile, the same 30-year $400K mortgage at a 7.5% interest rate would have a monthly payment of $2,797, taxes and insurance not included.
Annual Percentage Rate (APR) | Monthly payment (15-year) | Monthly payment (30-year) |
---|---|---|
6.50% | $2,613.32 | $1,896.20 |
6.75% | $2,654.73 | $1,945.79 |
7.00% | $2,696.48 | $1,995.91 |
7.25% | $2,738.59 | $2,046.53 |
Some 88.5 percent have a mortgage rate below 6 percent, down from a high of 92.8 percent of homeowners in in the second quarter of 2022, the report found. More than three-quarters of homeowners — 78.7 percent — have a mortgage rate below 5 percent, while nearly 6 in 10 — 59.4 percent — have a mortgage below 4 percent.
2021: The lowest 30-year mortgage rates ever
And it kept falling to a new record low of just 2.65% in January 2021. The average mortgage rate for that year was 2.96%. That year marked an incredibly appealing homeownership opportunity for first-time homebuyers to enter the housing market.
What were the highest mortgage rates in history? Homebuyers in the early 1980s were subject to the highest mortgage rates in history — rates peaked at 18.63% in October 1981 and remained generally high throughout the 1980s.
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