Mortgages and Interest Rates are still dropping. Ilyce discussed this topic along with other questions from callers, providing personal finance advice and real estate advice on the Ilyce Glink Show October 9, 2011 on WSB Radio.

More personal finance advice on WSBRadio. This week, on my show, I just had to talk about it again, because the story is not going away: mortgages and interest rates. According to Freddie Mac the average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage now stands at 3.96 percent.

For a 15-year version, the median rate comes in at 3.25 percent, and for a 10-year loan, you can expect to pay an average interest rate below 3 percent.

This is a unique opportunity for certain. I have never seen anything like it. In fact, no one has. But the downside is that these rates indicate that our economy is not in very good shape at all.

To illustrate my point, consider the latest loan offering from PenFed. Presently, that entity is advertising a “5/5” adjustable rate mortgage. For the first 60 months of the loan period, you can secure a rate of 3.625 percent with an APR of 3.2 percent. That sounds normal enough, right?

However, for the next 300 months, you may have a rate as low as 3 percent with the same APR, topping out at a maximum of 8.625 percent.

Folks, if you are paying 3 percent in five years under the terms of this mortgage, that reflects a worse case scenario for our nation’s fiscal health. That would mean that we were enmeshed in an economic crisis of worse proportions than the Great Depression. I’m going to have to believe that’s not going to happen.

Offerings like this, and other wild developments in the economy are a reflection of a world in financial chaos.

[ad#in_content_1500]Consider that it was another up and down week for the Dow. We ended up roughly 190 points by the end of Friday at 11,103, but it was another volatile ride to get there. 10-year treasury bonds are paying a 2 percent interest rate. I am simply amazed.

Callers, guests and I discuss the potential implications of the ongoing fluctuations of well, everything, in the world of real estate and personal finance. You can get more personal finance advice and real estate advice by listening to this radio show and by listening to my other radio shows by simply downloading them to your phone or audio player. You can also read our articles on real estate, credit, and consumer advice articles as well.

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