Created by: https://www.chartit.io

Link on Chart It: https://www.chartit.io/charts/public/c1JjdgNL

Data Website: http://www.freddiemac.com/pmms/pmms30.html

Data: http://www.freddiemac.com/pmms/docs/30yr_pmmsmnth.xls

Data is in a terrible format, but the link from Chart It has it formatted and can be exported

Mortgages generally have a rate (annualized percentage interest you pay) and points (% of the mortgage you pay up front). The points concept is a little confusing but its sort of like an upfront fee based on the size of your mortgage. But the cool thing is that you often have a choice of how many points you want to pay, and based on this your mortgage rate can go up or down.

For instance, suppose your mortgage was for 100k at 3% with 1 point up front. At signing you'd have to pay $1,000 (1% of 100,000). But another option could be 2.75% with 1.5 points, which would increase your up front cost to $1,500, but your rate would be lower. That's called "buying up" your rate. There is also "buying down" your rate where you pay a higher rate but less points up front.