Castanet

Yes that is totally true. In 1999 you could have brought a brand new house on the lake for $350,000. Now you can't buy any house for $350,000. In 2001 I built a brand new house with a lake view for $200,000 but my interest rate was 7.5%. So $1500 a month mortgage payment. A $450,000 house with a 2.5% interest is $2000 a month. Of course there is some inflation in 16 years so payments are somewhat similar. A $450,000 house at 7.5% would be $3300 a month.

An extra $15,000 a year wouldn't break everyone but it would definitely break some people. I don't see the Interest rates ever going to 7.5% but you never know. Like the previous poster said that would foreclose too many people and cause the economy to collapse so I don't see them raising them that high.

It's interesting that interest rates have gone up a couple times this year, and yet the banks are still offering 2.1% variable rates. It's just prime minus a bigger number.