Borrowing against home equity has long been an affordable option for property owners. In fact, both home equity loan and home equity line of credit (HELOC) rates remained well below the cost of alternatives such as credit cards in the post-pandemic era — even as consumer borrowing costs rose across the board in response to the Federal Reserve's interest rate hikes aimed at combating inflation.

Falling mortgage rates are expected to kickstart home-buying demand. But buyers will still have to contend with home prices that soared to record highs this year. Here’s what ex

"I expect mortgage rates to stay around 6.875% to 7.125% in December," says Aaron Gordon, a branch manager and senior mortgage loan officer at Guild Mortgage. "We won't likely see big moves downward until we see unemployment go up, less government spending or the Fed jump back into the mortgage market."

Today, the mortgage interest rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage is 7.16%, according to Curinos. On a 15-year fixed mortgage, the average rate is 6.30%, and the average rate on a 30-year jumbo mortgage is 7.