I swear I remember mortgages in Arkansas at the 4% level int he 60’d.
fightenJAG-Yhe low interest rates will spur NEW HOME sales. The LTV is okay on new construction. It lowers the heck of the value of existing homes in the area but it keeps people working. If I remember correctly, there are something like 27 businesses tied directly to the building of each house.
Refinancing will not be affected in most parts of the country because of LTV. Sadly new homes purchased a year or two ago have gone down in value and can’t be refinanced without bringing money to the table.
I can’t vouch for the very early 60s but i bought my first home in 1967 after returning from Viet Nam. I bought it with a California Veteran’s loan and the interest rate was only 3 3/4 percent which was much lower than the going rate at that time. I believe the going rate at that time for FHA and regular VA loans was high 5s or low 6s. The reason the rate was so low was that i was one of the very 1st vietnam vets to apply under the CALVET loan program and they had not adjusted the interest rates since shortly after the Korean war. The CALVET program was great. The state loaned the full amount directly to me and my total out-of-pocket, move-in cost was less than $100. It was a 20 year loan and at 3 3/4 % about half of my very first payment went to equity.