$200K Home Equity Loan Monthly Cost Post‑Fed Cut
CBS News calculates how much monthly payments would be on a $200,000 home equity loan in the wake of the Federal Reserve’s September 2025 rate cut, showing specific payment examples for 10‑ and 15‑year terms and assessing whether borrowing now makes sense for homeowners. The piece cites current quoted fixed rates (8.34% for 10 years; 8.21% for 15 years), provides historical comparisons to March 2025 and October 2024, and offers guidance on risks (home as collateral, need for repayment plan) and potential tax considerations for home projects.
Economy
Personal Finance
🔍 Key Facts
- Quoted rates and monthly payments: 10‑year at 8.34% → $2,462.63/month; 15‑year at 8.21% → $1,935.63/month for a $200,000 loan.
- Average homeowner equity cited at roughly $313,000; typical lender cap referenced at 80% of home value, leaving about $250,000 potentially borrowable.
- Comparative snapshots: March 2025 and Oct 2024 payment/rate figures provided to show modest improvement but not a material shift.
- Practical guidance: article warns home is collateral, advises having a payoff plan, and notes possible tax advantages if funds used for qualifying home projects.
📍 Contextual Background
- Rocket Companies is the parent company of Rocket Mortgage, an online mortgage lender and refinancing portal.
- The U.S. administration announced tariffs of 50% on imported kitchen cabinets, bathroom vanities and associated products, and 30% on imported upholstered furniture, to take effect on 2025-10-01.
- Prices for living room, kitchen and dining room furniture in the U.S. rose 9.5% from August 2024 to August 2025, according to CPI data.
- In March 2025, Rocket Companies announced it was acquiring real estate listing company Redfin, and weeks later agreed to buy out mortgage competitor Mr. Cooper.
- A proposed $1.6 billion merger between Anywhere Real Estate and Compass was announced in September 2025.
- Compass was the largest U.S. residential real estate brokerage by sales volume as of September 29, 2025.
- Multiple Listing Services (MLSs) allow brokerages to share information on properties they have listed for sale.