Current Mortgage Rates

The mortgage rate is a key component of the home mortgage loan, because it's partly what determines the size of your monthly payment. This is why current mortgage rates are so popular among home buyers who plan to get a home loan, and homeowners who plan to refinance. In this tutorial, we will discuss the importance of getting a good interest rate on your loan, and also where you can go to find current mortgage rates online.

Sampling of Current Rates - Week of February 12, 2009

30-year fixed: 5.16% | 15-year fixed: 4.81% | 5/1 ARM: 5.23%

* Rates are based on average from multiple sources. Disclosure

Getting the Best Rates

It's important to realize that not everyone qualifies for the best rates a mortgage lender has to offer. This is where your credit score and other qualifying factors come into the picture. When a lender advertises their current rates being offered, you will almost always see the phrase "as low as" before the rate. Or you'll seen an asterisk with a disclaimer that says "for well qualified borrowers only."

So when you see current mortgage rates being discussed on television, or being advertised on a lender's website, remember this important fact. Only the most well-qualified borrowers will get the best rates a lender has to offer. All the more incentive to maintain a good credit score!

If you would like to see what kind of rate you qualify for, click the appropriate link below for mortgage, refinance and home equity quotes. For a list of other websites that provide current mortgage rates, scroll down a bit.

Buying a home in the near future? Use the link below to get offers from multiple lenders:

Looking for quotes on a refinance loan? Click the link below to begin:

Want to see if you're qualified for an equity loan? Here's your first step:

Where Else to Find Current Rates

Here's a list of websites where you can find interest rate data and related information. In addition to providing current mortgage rates for the U.S., most of these websites offer useful tools and articles as well.

BankRate.com — This is one of the most popular websites where people go to get current rates on mortgages, auto loans, CDs and other financial products. From the home page, just look for the mortgage tab in the main menu.
http://www.bankrate.com

Freddie Mac — This organization was initially created by the government, back in 1970. Today, they are a private company that enjoys government support. Freddie Mac partly determines the interest rates offered by mortgage lenders, because they purchase the loans made by other lenders through the secondary mortgage market. That's more than you needed to know. Relevant to the topic at hand, they publish a weekly survey of current mortgage rates being offered in the U.S.
http://www.freddiemac.com/dlink/html/PMMS/display/PMMSOutputYr.jsp

Interest.com — I wish I had bought this domain name years ago. As the name implies, this website focuses primarily on current rates for various financing products, including home mortgage loans. You can also find a wealth of articles, news and other mortgage-related content on the site.
http://www.interest.com

LendingTree — This website is useful for many reasons. Their main function is offering mortgage quotes through the site, but you can also find plenty of helpful information, including expert advice, financial calculators, current home mortgage rates and more.
http://www.lendingtree.com

Zillow — This website started out as a real estate search engine. And while that is still their core focus, they've also expanded to include a variety of other content and services. You can find current mortgage rates and other financing tools on the site now as well.
http://www.zillow.com/mortgage

Yahoo Real Estate — Yahoo has been working hard to improve the real estate section of their site over the last couple of years. As a result of their efforts, you can find just about anything through the site now, and that includes current interest rates on mortgage loans.
http://www.bankrate.com

Interest Rate Disclosure

On several pages of this website, you will see the current prime rates being offered by lenders in the U.S. These numbers are for general use only. They do not constitute any type of guarantee or offer. They are based on averages from various lending channels and information networks, including data reported from Freddie Mac. All rates on this website are presented to give you a general idea of the current rates available. The only way to find out for sure what rate you qualify for is to apply for a mortgage loan with a lender.