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How far have home equity loan interest rates fallen in 2024?
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If you’re looking for an inexpensive way to access a large, six-figure sum of money, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better option than your home equity. Not only does the average homeowner possess approximately $330,000 worth of equity to utilize right now, but they can do so at an interest rate significantly lower than what can be secured with alternatives like credit cards and personal loans. And with home equity loans, in particular, those interest rates are fixed for the full repayment period, unless refinanced by the borrower.
That said, it’s important to appropriately time your home equity loan application to lock in an attractive interest rate. To do so, borrowers may find it helpful to gauge how far interest rates on this product have fallen, particularly this year as inflation has declined and multiple interest rate cuts have been issued. Below, we’ll show how far home equity loan interest rates have dropped in 2024 for both 10- and 15-year loans and explain why now may be a smart time to act.
See how low of a home equity loan interest rate you could secure here.
How far have home equity loan interest rates fallen in 2024?
Home equity loan interest rates for both loan terms had been hovering at the same level for most of the year but have experienced a substantial drop in recent months. According to historical Bankrate data, a 15-year home equity loan interest rate was 9.08% on January 3, 2024, but it dropped to 8.87% by February 14. 10-year home equity loans, meantime, were averaging 8.73% on March 27.
By May, 15-year home equity loans were averaging under 8.80% and by August they were under 8.70%. 10-year home equity loans hit 8.61% in early September and both broke under 8.50% in early October: 8.47% for 10-year home equity loans and 8.37% for 15-year home equity loans. And they’ve remained in that approximate range since, with 10-year home equity loans averaging 8.52% on November 13 while 15-year home equity loans were at 8.44% on the same date.
So, between January 1 and mid-November, home equity loan interest rates fell by more than half a percentage point. And while that may not seem substantial on paper, that difference can add up to hundreds and possibly thousands of dollars saved over the life of the loan. For many, then, it may be worth taking advantage of this drop in rates now while lenders are still offering better deals.
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Is it worth opening a home equity loan now?
The decision to open a home equity loan is a personal one, particularly when considering that the home functions as collateral in this exchange. That said, there’s a compelling argument to be made for opening a home equity loan, specifically, right now. Rates on the product are lower than they’ve been all year long. But with inflation rising in October, it’s possible that they won’t drop much lower, at least for the foreseeable future.
Plus, by acting now — and by using a home equity loan for IRS-eligible home projects — you may be eligible to deduct the interest paid on the loan when you file your 2024 tax return in the spring. If you delay acting, that deduction will need to wait until you file again in 2026. And, if rates somehow fall much further than they already are, you could always refinance then — but still get the financing you need right now.
The bottom line
Home equity loan interest rates have been on the decline for most of 2024, making the final weeks of the year a smart time to act for many homeowners. And with the potential for rates to stay static versus continually moving downward significantly, many homeowners would benefit from acting now, particularly if their financial needs cannot be delayed. Still, it’s critical to approach this borrowing option with care as you could lose your home if you fail to repay all that you’ve withdrawn.
Learn more about your home equity borrowing options here.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s concerns about the health effects of fluoride may already be helping some Americans — investors in dental services companies.
Shares in Dentsply Sirona, Envista, Henry Schein Patterson Companies, and other providers of dental products are jumping, with Wall Street betting that a potential push by the incoming Trump administration to remove fluoride from the nation’s drinking water could spur demand for the companies’ services.
Kennedy, tapped by President-elect Donald Trump to lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said on social media just ahead of the November 5 presidential election that Trump would rid fluoride from the public water supply on his first day in office. Kennedy, a noted vaccine skeptic, has described fluoride as an “industrial waste” and linked it to arthritis, neurological deficiencies in children and other serious health problems.
“The thought here is RFK will bring to HHS a voice that is in favor of reducing, or eliminating, the amount of fluoridation that is added to drinking water,” Don Bilson, Gordon Haskett’s head of event-driven research, told investors in a report, according to NBC News. “This will, in turn, lead to an acceleration of tooth decay and more dental visits.”
Dental experts have largely refuted such claims. Dr. Aaron Yancoskie, associate dean of academic affairs at Touro College of Dental Medicine, told “CBS Mornings Plus” on November 13 that there is “excellent, solid data going back 75 years showing that fluoride is both safe, and it’s extremely effective at decreasing dental decay, that is, cavities, by strengthening the enamel of our teeth.”
According to KFF Health News, some studies have linked fluoride exposure among pregnant women to a higher risk of childhood neurobehavioral problems and lower IQs, leading experts to call for further research.
Fluoride is a mineral that keeps teeth healthy and reduces cavities by protecting them against bacteria that produces potentially damaging acid, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. To prevent tooth decay, the U.S. has been adding a small quantity of fluoride to water since the 1950s.
Stocks have surged since Trump won a second term in the White House, with investors buoyed by his pledges during the campaign against Vice President Kamala Harris to cut corporate taxes and eliminate red tape for businesses.
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Washington — The House Ethics Committee is set to meet Wednesday as it faces increasing pressure to release a potentially damaging report detailing its investigation into allegations former Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz engaged in sexual misconduct and illicit drug use, two sources told CBS News.
The movements of the Ethics panel have been under heightened scrutiny since President-elect Donald Trump announced last week that he had selected Gaetz to serve as attorney general. The Florida Republican resigned his seat in the House in the wake of the announcement, which ended the Ethics Committee’s jurisdiction over Gaetz since he is now a former member.
The Ethics Committee declined to comment on the upcoming meeting. The panel was supposed to meet Friday to vote on releasing the report, but Trump tapped Gaetz for the nation’s top law enforcement officer days earlier. The committee then postponed its meeting.
Gaetz must win Senate confirmation to serve as attorney general, and senators have been calling to see the Ethics Committee’s report as they weigh whether to approve his nomination. Any confirmation hearings, which would be conducted by the Senate Judiciary Committee, would not take place until next year after Trump is inaugurated. Republicans will gain control of the upper chamber in the next Congress, which begins Jan. 3.
Sen. John Cornyn, a Texas Republican, told reporters last week that he believes senators should have access to the Ethics Committee’s findings.
“I think there should not be any limitations on the Senate Judiciary Committee’s investigation, including whatever the House Ethics Committee has generated,” said Cornyn, who sits on the Judiciary Committee.
GOP Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma, a Trump ally, similarly told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday that he believes the Senate should be able to see the report on Gaetz.
“Congress has to advise and consent, and Matt Gaetz is going to go through the same scrutiny as every other individual, and I’m going to give him a fair shot, just like every individual, and at the end of the day, the Senate has to confirm him,” he said.
But House Speaker Mike Johnson has cautioned against the release of the report by the Ethics Committee, warning in an interview Sunday that doing so for someone who is not a current House member “would be a Pandora’s box.”
“What I have said with regard to the report is that it should not come out. And why? Because Matt Gaetz resigned from Congress. He is no longer a member,” Johnson told CNN’s “State of the Union.” “There’s a very important protocol and tradition and rule that we maintain that the House Ethics Committee’s jurisdiction does not extend to non-members of Congress.”
The House Ethics Committee first began its investigation into allegations of misconduct against Gaetz in April 2021, but deferred its consideration in response to a request from the Justice Department. It resumed its investigation in May 2023 after federal investigators declined to charge Gaetz following their sex-trafficking and obstruction probe.
Gaetz has denied any wrongdoing and blamed the ethics probe on former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. He has called the investigation a “smear.” The Florida congressman helped lead the historic effort to strip McCarthy of the speaker’s gavel last year.
The ethics panel said in June that it had spoken with more than a dozen witnesses, issued 25 subpoenas and reviewed thousands of pages of documents as part of its investigation into Gaetz, and determined that “certain allegations merit continued review.”
The committee said it was examining accusations Gaetz engaged in sexual misconduct and illicit drug use, accepted improper gifts, gave “special privileges and favors” to people close to him and sought to obstruct government investigations into his conduct.
Multiple sources told CBS News at the time that four women told the Ethics Committee that they had been paid to go to parties, which Gaetz attended, that included sex and drugs. The panel has the Florida Republican’s Venmo transactions that allegedly show payments for the women. One woman who testified to the Ethics Committee said she had sex with Gaetz at a party in 2017, just after he was elected to Congress and when she was 17 years old, sources told CBS News at the time
Her lawyer, John Clune, said on social media last week that she was a high school student and “there were witnesses.”
“We would support the House Ethics Committee immediately releasing their report,” Clune wrote.
