A staggering 83 percent of American homebuyers consider a “normal” rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage loan to be under 5 percent, new data from Redfin shows.
It seems the last few years — in which the Federal Reserve depressed interest rates in an effort to stimulate lending — has had a pretty crazy affect on American memories.
Rates have averaged 6.7 percent since 1990, according to Redfin. The rate for the 30-year mortgage never once dropped below 5 percent until March 2009.
Here’s the history of the 30-year conventional mortgage rate, courtesy of FRED: