What I would like to know is the mortgage rates on Single Family homes
in Massachusetts from 1980 to the present.  I am a single male
purchasing a single family residence, and I need to decide whether to
take out a 5/1 ARM loan or a 30 year fixed rate loan.  I think if I
can see the trends of the past 20 or so years, I can make a better
educated decision on what kind of mortgage plan to use. So my question
is "can you give me a list of the average 5/1 ARM and 30 year fixed
mortgage rates for each year from 1980 to 2002?

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Request for Question Clarification by journalist-ga on 08 Jul 2002 09:37 PDT

I was unable to locate the information, however I did find an online
graph program from Bankrate in which you may enter the type of loan
and state to receive a graph for the past six months.  It is possible
they might have a history in their possession from 1980 to present, if
queried.

I searched "massachusetts 5/1 ARM loan history trends" and found the
Bankrate site.  On their main page was a tab in green titled "charts"
and I clicked that to locate the graph program.  I selected
Massachusetts from the state selection and "30 yr fixed mtg" from the
mortgage list and the "6 M" for months to graph (the largest amount of
time available) and received a graph for that state, loan and time
period.  The direct link to the graph maker is:

http://www.bankrate.com/brm/graphs/graph_trend.asp?product=1&prodtype=M&ad=mtg&nav=mtg30year_graph

I hope you find the information through them and good luck in your
quest.

Silly,

I live in Massachusetts and I've been considering buying a home
myself, so it's an interesting question. I didn't have any luck
finding Massachusetts specific data, but I'm not sure how much
difference that should really make in your decision. The following
links are to Freddie Mac nationwide averages, and I suggest their
website for all other mortgae related questions you may have.

30 Years of data for 30 year fixed

http://www.freddiemac.com/pmms/pmms30.htm

Since 1984 for 1 year ARM

http://www.freddiemac.com/pmms/pmmsarm.htm

morris