Given the last year’s trend, is there an end in sight to new record-low interest rates? For example, on July 22, Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey, which provides a snapshot of national average mortgage rates, reported a national average rate of 4.56% with 0.7 points on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage. At the same time last year, the rate was 5.2% with 0.7 points. Given these changes and the housing crisis, many are turning to mortgage fair events for additional information.

Questions:

1. Assume that the women in this video has a fifteen-year $175,000 mortgage with a 7.5% interest rate and a monthly payment of $1,622.28. What is the interest portion of her first payment and how much is her principal reduced by with her first payment? If she refinanced this loan for 30 years at the same interest rate, what elements of her mortgage would change? 
2. The woman at the end of the video said that her mortgage was upside down. What does that mean? Why does she need an appraisal?
3. What do you see as the benefits for having mortgage fair events like these?
4. What is a point that is charged on mortgages and how do these affect the homebuyer?
Source:

Fontinelle, A. (2010). All-Time Low Mortgage Rates: Time To Refinance? San Francisco Chronicle, July 26. (Retrievable online at http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2010/07/26/investopedia45861.DTL)

CNN.com. Free Mortgage Fair Help Draws Crowd (Retrievable online at: http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2010/07/26/endo.mortgage.help.fair.cnn?hpt=C2)