According to MarketWatch, the recent federal cuts have resulted in lower rates for HELOC customers. Financial columnist Chuck Jaffe notes that home equity lines are the one place that consumers are actually seeing a difference:

“BankRate.com pegs the rate on a $30,000 home-equity line of credit at 5.52%, on average, down sharply from a week ago and, more importantly, about 0.25 percentage point lower than the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage.

For consumers who have not loaded up on home-equity debt in the past, that picture creates an opportunity.

“Whenever you can lower your payments and lower your interest rates at the same time, you should go for it,” says Paul Richard, director of education at the Institute for Consumer Financial education in San Diego. “Between all of the scary news on Wall Street and how little you can make on savings, this is a good time to get a plan for paying off your debt.”

Of course, not everyone can qualify for a HELOC - especially considering dropping home prices and tightening lending standards. Those who can may find even lower rates should the fed make further cuts in coming months.

See Also:

Fed Cuts Interest Rates, Yet Again

Will Federal Rate Cuts Affect Your APR?

Tags | Heloc, home equity loan, mortgage rates