Average Rates for Various Loans

You are probably aware that mortgage rates change along with interest. The annual percentage rate (APR) that you pay is determined by the market and the points you pay upfront. If you have an adjustable-rate mortgage it will probably be lower at first, as opposed to a fixed-rate mortgage. Your down payment and length of the loan also determine your interest rate. It varies mostly according to the type of loan and the current national APR.

Rates go up and down constantly, but generally are only expected to change .01 to .04 percent in the near future. To give you an idea of interest rates, they will almost always fluctuate between four and ten percent.

On November 21, 2004, the rates were between four and six percent before points, depending on the type of loan. For a thirty-year fixed loan, the APR before points was 5.42 percent. With a point amount of .31, the APR would come to 5.54 percent. This would probably only change .03 percent. In comparison, a 15-year fixed loan on the same date would have an APR of 4.87 percent, and with .34 points that would be 5.06 percent.

For 1/1 adjustable-rate mortgage (payments are fixed for one year and then increase or decrease after that year) the rate was 3.83 percent, with .33 points that is an APR of 4.57 percent. A 3/1 (Fixed for thee years, then adjustable) the APR before points was 4.28 percent, and 4.47 percent after .34 points. For a 5/1 ARM this would come out to the same as the figure for a 30-year fixed rate above.

Remember that these statistics are the US average, so they would be slightly different depending on the area, the lender, the loan and other considerations and so on.
There are too many factors to promise any specific APR, but a fixed-rate mortgage will definitely give you a set rate as opposed to adjustable rates that change with the market.