What is the Prime Rate and How Does It Impact Home Equity and Credit Card Rates?
What is the Prime Rate and How Does It Impact Home Equity and Credit Card Rates?
Author:Sol Nasisi
on May 6, 2010
- modified on October 11, 2018
When looking for a home equity line, an auto loan, or a credit card, you may often run into the Prime Rate. Often, it is used as the benchmark to set these other product rates. What is the Prime Rate exactly and how is it set?
The Prime Rate, also referred to as the US Prime Rate is determined by polling the top 10 largest banks in the US. When at least 7 of the10 banks change their prime lending rate, then a new rate is published in the WSJ. So, the Prime Rate is an index put together from individual bank prime lending rates. It is not a law or a goverment set rate like the Fed Funds Rate. Banks do not have to adhere to it although many do for the sake of simplicity and for allowing easy product and rate comparisons.
Often a home equity line will be quoted as Prime +1. That means you take the prime rate, and add 1% point on top of it.Today's Prime Rate is 3.25% so the rate would be 3.25% + 1% = 4.25%.
The Prime Rate follows the Fed Funds Rate tighly. A rule of thumb for calculating the Prime Rate is the following:
U.S. Prime Rate = (The Fed Funds Target Rate + 3)
Looking at some actual rates, we can see that home equity line rates are generally 0-2% points above prime. The top line rate in Texas is 4.75%, which is 1.50% points above prime. It varies by state. For example, the lowest home equity line rate in New York is 4.25%, or just 1% point above Prime.
You'll also see Prime used quite a bit in variable rate credit cards. If you look at the legal and rate language, it is almost always quoted as so many percenrage points above prime. What been interesting here is that even as Prime has fallen, the credit card companies have not reduced their rates. That means the have increased the spread between Prime and what their cards charge.
When the Fed begins to raise rates someday in the future, look for Prime to go up with it. It's one way the Fed Funds Rate has such an impact on the economy.
Sol Nasisi: Sol Nasisi is the co-founder and a past president of BestCashCow, an online resource for comprehensive bank rate information. In this capacity, he closely followed rate trends for all savings-related and loan products and the impact of rate fluctuations on the economy. He specifically focused on how rates impact consumers' ability to borrow and save. He also has authored a wee
A Guaranteed Rate HELOC is secured with your home as collateral, whereas personal loans and credit cards are not.
To check the rates and terms you qualify for, we will conduct a soft credit pull that will not affect your credit score. However, if you continue and submit an application, we will request your full credit report from one or more consumer reporting agencies, which is considered a hard credit pull and may affect your credit.
Approval may be granted in five minutes but is ultimately subject to verification of income and employment, as well as verification that your property is in at least average condition with a property condition report. Five business day funding timeline assumes closing the loan with our remote online notary. Funding timelines may be longer for loans secured by properties located in counties that do not permit recording of e-signatures or that otherwise require an in-person closing.
Guaranteed Rate Home Equity Line is an open-end product where the full loan amount (minus lender, broker, third party, and governement fees, as applicable) will be 100% drawn at the time of origination. The initial amount funded at origination will be based on a fixed rate; however, this product contains an additional draw feature. As the borrower repays the balance on the line, the borrower may make additional draws during the draw period. If the borrower elects to make an additional draw, the interest rate for that draw will be set as of the date of the draw and will be based on an Index, which is the Prime Rate published in the Wall Street Journal for the calendar month preceding the date of the additional draw, plus a fixed margin. Accordingly, the fixed rate for any additional draw may be higher than the fixed rate for the initial draw.
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Home Equity Loans & Refinance – Cash out
Customized rate quote with no impact to credit
Low Rates, Quick Approvals, Wide Range of Products
1. APRs for initial advances range from 8.25% to 18.00% based on funded HELOCs as of September 2024. Your actual rate will depend on many factors such as your credit history, loan-to-value ratio, line amount, loan term, lien position, and property state. The lowest rates are only available to the most qualified applicants. The APR is variable, but the APR that will apply to each draw will be fixed on the date the draw is made.
2. As of October 2024, 10% of funded HELOCs achieved a closing timeline of 6 days or less and a funding timeline of 10 days or less. This timeline assumes consumers close with our remote online notary, provide supporting documentation promptly, and ensure the information provided is accurate and consistent with our verification process. Delays, discrepancies, and other unforeseen factors may impact the closing timeline. MBA’s 2024 Home Lending Study reports an average industry closing time of 31 days.
3. A Home Equity Line of Credit has a variable rate. The APR may change, but the APR that will apply to each draw will be fixed on the date the draw is made. Your APR will be the Prime Rate at the time of draw plus a margin fixed for the life of the HELOC.
As low as 8.25% APR on your initial draw*
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The Figure Home Equity Line is an open-end product where the full loan amount (minus the origination fee) will be 100% drawn at the time of origination. The initial amount funded at origination will be based on a fixed rate; however, this product contains an additional draw feature. As the borrower repays the balance on the line, the borrower may make additional draws during the draw period. If the borrower elects to make an additional draw, the interest rate for that draw will be set as of the date of the draw and will be based on an Index, which is the Prime Rate published in the Wall Street Journal for the calendar month preceding the date of the additional draw, plus a fixed margin. Accordingly, the fixed rate for any additional draw may be higher than the fixed rate for the initial draw.
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