While stories have abounded in the media recently of problems in the mortgage, auto and student loan sectors, now actually represents a great time to look at borrowing in those areas, according to
The Wall Street Journal.
"Rates on many consumer loans have come down this year as more lenders compete to win over borrowers," writes Journal reporter AnnaMaria Andriotis. "What's more, some riskier loans are starting to make more financial sense."
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- In the mortgage market, opportunities lie in jumbo loans, those topping $417,000 in most of the country and $625,500 in expensive cities. Thirty-year, fixed-rate jumbo loans have offered lower average interest rates than smaller mortgage loans for five straight weeks through Sept. 5. That's the longest such streak in at least 28 years, according to HSH.com.
- In the auto-loan market, several new online lenders have entered the fray. And many of their loans carry fixed interest rates of zero to 2 percent.
- In the student-borrowing arena, fixed-rate private loans are now much cheaper than some of their popular U.S.-government counterparts.
"The caveat: you often need top credit scores to get the best deals," Andriotis writes.
Many Americans are apparently aware of the opportunities. Consumer borrowing soared $26.01 billion to $3.24 trillion in July, the biggest gain since November 2001, with strong gains in auto and student loans.
"People are clearly starting to feel more confident, and we’re also probably seeing some pent-up demand," Matt Schulz, senior industry analyst at CreditCards.com, told Bloomberg.
"As long as you get that slow and steady economic growth, it’s reasonable to think that these numbers will continue to grow."
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