As mortgage rates drop, so do housing payments. It's a good time to consider refinancing your home, or making an offer on a new one. Mortgage payment affordability has never been so high in history. According to Freddie Mac, the average 30-year fixed rate mortgage rate is now 3.94 percent -- an all-time low -- with an accompanying 0.8 discount points. This means that in order to get access to the 3.94 percent rate, Midlothian homeowners and home buyers should expect to pay a loan fee equal to 0.8% of the borrowed amount, plus "normal" closing costs. Last week, the average 30-year fixed rate mortgage rate was 3.99 percent with an accompanying 0.7 discount points. Mortgage rates in Virginia have been in decline for most of the year. Since peaking in early-February, the average home owner's principal + interest payment on a 30-year fixed rate mortgage had now dropped by 12.2 percent. Here is how mortgage payments compare, then and now, not accounting for your individual tax-and-insurance escrow :
- February 10, 2011 : Payment of $539.88 per $100,000 borrowed
- December 15, 2011 : Payment of $473.96 per $100,000 borrowed