The Differences
As their names suggest, the main difference between a 15-year and 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is its duration. If you make your regular monthly loan payments on time every month, you will pay off a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage loan in 15 years. You will pay off a 30-year fixed-rate loan in 30.
There’s another big difference that comes with these loans: The average mortgage interest rate on a 15-year loan is smaller than it is on a 30-year loan. According to Freddie Mac, the average interest rate on a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage loan stood at 4.01 percent in late December 2018. The average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage loan stood at 4.55 percent during the same period. Both rates are moderately above what they were in the prior year, and still historically attractive. However, you’ll note the rate on the 15-year loan is much lower than the 30-year rate.
Does that mean that a 15-year fixed-rate loan is the best financial choice? Not necessarily.
Pros and Cons
The main benefit of a 15-year mortgage loan is that you will pay far less in interest during the life of the mortgage. That can save you hundreds of thousands of dollars if you pay off your loan.
For example, if you take out a 30-year fixed-rate $200,000 mortgage with an interest rate of 4.55 percent, you will pay $166,956 during the life of your loan in interest. If you take out the same loan at the same rate but for a period of just 15 years, you will pay only $76,319 in interest over the life of the loan.
That is a saving of $90,637 if you would have taken out the 15-year fixed-rate loan.
Again, though, that does not mean that the 15-year loan is necessarily the best choice for you and your family. Even though a 15-year mortgage comes with a lower interest rate, your monthly payment for such a loan will be higher than it would be with a 30-year fixed-rate loan. The reason? In a 30-year loan, the monthly payments are portioned out over a more extended period.
Here’s an example: For that 15-year fixed-rate loan of $200,000 at an interest rate of 4.01 percent, you would face a monthly mortgage payment of $1,480. If you instead took out a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage loan of $200,000 at an interest rate of 4.55 percent, you would pay $1,019 a month.
The question, then, comes down to this: Can you comfortably afford the monthly payment that comes with a 15-year fixed-rate loan? If so, then taking out one of these loans might be a better choice because you will waste less money on interest. However, if you cannot stretch your household budget to cover that 15-year monthly payment, a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage loan might be a better choice.