Interesting

Phoenix AZ

Description

Think mortgage rates are high now? Connie Strait remembers when she was starting her career in real estate in the early 1980s and buyers were contending with rates three times higher. Strait recalled one couple who were actually relieved when they locked in a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage at 19% in September 1981. The couple had told her they were hoping to close on their new home before rates moved any higher. “They were so delighted to be closing at 19%,” said Strait, who now works at William Raveis Real Estate in Danbury, Connecticut. “They said, ‘We made it in just under the wire, next week it is going to 20%!’” The following month, in October 1981, the average weekly interest rate for a 30-year, fixed rate loan hit an all-time high of 18.6%, according to Freddie Mac. The average mortgage rate is based on a survey of conventional home purchase loans for borrowers who put 20% down and have excellent credit. But many buyers pay even more. This week, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rate hit an average of 6.70%. Although it may come as cold comfort to someone who let a 3% rate slip through their fingers just seven months ago, today’s interest rates are, historically speaking, still relatively low. “Unfortunately, now people don’t remember how Baby Boomers were getting rates of 10%, 12% and higher for most of the 1980s,” Strait said. “Meanwhile, our kids are shocked by 6%.”