Yes, if you want to have a low mortgage rate for the next 5 years. Rates will rise already the bank rate is 5.19% before discounts. I locked my mortgage for 5 years at 3.6% with an ability to make double payments and to pay 10% of the total mortgage per year without any penalties.

The Bank of Canada has stated that they intend to keep the variable rate low till mid 2010 . This means you will have below 2% rate for another 6 months minimum. It is hard to make that jump to the fixed rates but the lowest 5 yr terms ever are available today, they may not be available by 2010. This is a personal choice, some risk is involved in waiting till 2010 but a below 2% rate is a great place to be right now. Sorry I cant be of more help! Dave....

Today the 5yr rate is still way below the average interest rate of 5.5%. Anytime you lock a mortgage in at lower rate than that you cant lose. The variable is unstable it can climb at any time and then if you want to lock you are at the mercy of the 5yr mortgage rate at that time. Unless you keep a close eye on rates and follow them, you should lock it in. If you do follow the rates then make sure you dont wait too long, they already started to rise.

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We close in 27 days - we can lock a rate of 5.375 today which is down 3/8ths from last week. should we lock in today or wait a week??

No; it's probably a good idea to lock. The market is favorable for you today. Follow this advice. New rates are issued at about 11am est. Wait until Wed. after 11am est and THEN LOCK. That rate is great..don't get greedy.

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I'm purchasing a home and have resisted locking in the rate as long as possible. my mortgage consultant is insisting i lock in either today or monday. which would you do if it were you? * i'm especially curious whether the fed chairman's speech today would affect rates at all. i realize no one knows for sure, but i would really appreciate you giving your best guess.

Lock in now, long term loan rates are going up.

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I will be purchasing a house in one year. i believe long term mortgage rates are around their low. i am concerned about where those rates will be a year from now. is there a way i can agree to borrow from a lender and lock in today's mortgage rates?

I hate to be blunt but everyone in this thread is incorrect. Yes you can lock in a loan rate for a year, it will likely cost you a point or so (not such a big deal if you expect rates to rise). The longest free lock is usually 45 days. Some shady broker house will charge you to lock rates but large BANKS like mine really aren't concerned about a few dollars here or there if we can do your entire loan instead. If you have any questions feel free to email me. Otherwise good luck, and I would stop taking advice about the biggest financial decision you will ever make from people who aren't in the industry.

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The 10yr bond was up this morning and is currently down. are there other indicators i should be looking at? other interest rate forecast sources? thanks for your help!

Flip a coin.

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Floating your interest rate is a gamble. Only you can answer this question for yourself. If you float the rate and end up with a lower rate you win. If you float the rate and it goes up you lose. No one person can tell what the rates will do on a day to day basis, if anyone did have that answer they would mot likely be working for the Gov. or in jail for fraud of some kind. If you think it is a good idea to lock that rate then do it and don't think twice about it. If you float it and the rate goes up don't beat yourself up about it either. Good luck

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Today is wednesday, 10/08/2008. this morning the fed dropped interest rates by 0.5%. i was quoted 6.5% in good faith when i started. last week the markets were horrible, and my floating rate went all the way down to 6%. now, it's right back at 6.5%! i have exactly 2 weeks to lock in my rate. i am afraid that, if i wait, i will be forced to pay an even higher rate than what i started with. please advise.

When you wait for rates to drop you are gambling that they will not go up. The feds lowered the rate today,so if it was me, and it is your money I am gambling with, I would wait. The lenders will feel the drop soon, therefore passing it on to you. Thanks for allowing me to gamble with your money, it felt so good. I would be interested to know how this came out please let me now via e-mail. I hope this has been of some use to you, good luck. 'FIGHT ON"

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I applied for a mortgage today and got a rate of 6.0% if i lock today (i still did not). this is a 30 year/fixed, 20% downpayment and i have to pay down 2.75 points to get this rate. there is no additional fee for it if i lock 30 days out. however, i'm still 50 days out. for 45 days out i have to pay 1/8 of a point and for 60 days out 1/4 of a point. my question is, should i lock now since the rate is good or should i wait and risk an increase in interest rates. any ideas will be greatly appreciated. thank you

I'd hold off for another week or two. Right now, anything that isn't A+ paper, meaning Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac or even FHA/VA (since those are guaranteed by the government), is getting wiped out. There is still a ton of money being invested in bonds. But they are only buying the lowest-risk, highest quality issues. So, US Treasury bonds and the above mortgage bonds have a high level of demand. High demand pushes rates down, since you can offer a lower rate to someone who really wants to buy it. (And if no one wants to buy your bond, increasing the rate it pays will help get buyers interested). Within a few weeks, this should settle itself out, to some degree. Meanwhile, first mortgage rates have been dropping incrementally for the past week or so, and we're probably not done yet. Even if it stays the same for 2 weeks, it'll save you .125%. For what it's worth, those offers you are getting are very fair, based on today's rates. But I gotta ask: How long are you planning to be in this home, or even this loan? Most loans only last 5-7 years before being paid off through a refinance or sale. It generally takes 5-7 years before you break even on paying points. Has your loan officer shown you the breakeven period? Are you sure you'll end up actually benefitting from paying these points upfront? If your loan officer is having trouble figuring out your breakeven period, I'd consider that a good sign to maybe find a new one.

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I'm debating to lock in my mortgage today with not so great rates that closed on friday. today had a huge stock market rally, do you think the mortgage rates will drop tomorrow? what i'm debating is should i lock in rates today or wait until tomorrow because of this rally? i know morgage rates are tied to bonds.

No. Mortgage interest rates are not tied or related to how the stock market does on any one specific day. Mortgage interest rates are set using other base interest rates such as the LIBOR rate, etc.

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Im buying my first home and i locked in the rate today of 6.125 on a 30yr fixed mortgage, was this a good rate? i don't plan to sell it for a long time. it sounded good, but i don't know much about this type of thing.

not a bad rate. consider buying the rate down if you dont plan to refinance and stay in the home for a long time this small amount you will pay wil save you a boat loan of money. pay 1.5% to buy the rate down. .75% it will give you a rate of 5.40 200,000 with the rate bought down to 5.40 200000X.0750=1500 per year 1500 X 30 years = $45,000 this is the added interest you save by buying the rate down and you well know interest is payed up front so the first 10 years you pay mostly interest. if you took what it is saving you 125.00 per month and sent an additional check of 125 marked apply to principle your mortgage would be paid off in 24 years and Date (#Months) Payment Towards Principal Towards Interest Remaining Amount Year 1 2007-09 (#001) $1,248.06 $348.06 $900.00 ($900.00) $199,651.94 Year 5 2011-09 (#049) $1,248.06 $431.77 $816.29 ($42,121.22) $180,966.28 Year 10 2016-09 (#109) $1,248.06 $565.26 $682.80 ($87,206.78) $151,168.24 Year 15 2021-09 (#169) $1,248.06 $740.02 $508.04 ($123,079.69) $112,157.55 Year 20 2026-09 (#229) $1,248.06 $968.81 $279.25 ($146,891.53) $61,085.79 Year 24 2030-09 (#277) $1,248.06 $1,201.82 $46.24 ($154,787.41) $9,074.79 2031-05 (#285) $511.58 $509.29 $2.29 ($154,960.62) $0.00