15 Year Loans Increase in Popularity

Home buyers and home owners who are refinancing are increasingly enthusiastic about 15-year, fixed-rate mortgages.

Originations of 15-year mortgages at Wells Fargo & Co. are up 55 percent through November compared to a year ago. At J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., 20 percent of refinances are 15-year loans, up 10 percent in 2008.

One reason is that rates on 15-year fixed-rate conforming mortgages averaged 4.46 percent in early December, according to HSH Associates in Pompton Plains, N.J.Source:

The Wall Street Journal, Ruth Simon (12/09/2009)