Smart Borrower Blog

Archive for June, 2017

Auto Loans Terms Lengthen as Average Affordability Drops

The majority of Americans cannot truly afford to buy a new car, according to a new study by Bankrate.com http://www.bankrate.com/auto/new-car-affordability-survey/. The result is longer car loan terms, with some stretching as far as 8 years. “The main point of this research is to illustrate how Americans are having to overextend themselves to pay for a […]

Student Loan Delinquencies Outpace All Others

While auto loan and credit card delinquencies are on the rise, they are extremely low compared to the rapid increase of student loans falling into delinquency. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s latest U.S. Economy in a Snapshot, “flows into serious delinquency for all loan types except student loans peaked during the […]

Federal Reserve Raises Rates to 9-Year High

The Federal Reserve increased its target interest rate to a range of 1 percent to 1.25 percent Wednesday, the first time in nine years the rate has been over 1 percent. The rise could affect everything from credit card rates to mortgage loans to savings rates. As promised, the Fed raised rates for the second […]

Mortgage Rates Fall to Lowest Level of 2017

Interest rates on long-term mortgage loans fell to their lowest point of the year during the past week, according to data from mortgage guarantor Freddie Mac, a sign of nervous economic markets. The average rate on a 30-year fixed rate mortgage (FRM) slipped to 3.94 percent with an average 0.5 point during the week ended […]