I think most people would want to take out a fixed-rate mortgage loan, these days.

However, you might think an adjustable-rate mortgage loan might work for you, depending on the length of time you'll be owning. And, if you're putting down less than 20%, you're probably trying to figure out if you should take out a second loan for the remainder, or pay PMI.

A new quarterly index of mortgage rates created by Susan M. Wachter ... aims to simplify that process. Dr. Wachter’s U.S. Mortgage Payment Index, which can be found at www.genworth.com/mortgageinfo, lists five common mortgages and shows how their payments will change over five years.

While other indexes track current rates for specific mortgages separately, or track rates tied to a borrower’s specific finances, the Mortgage Payment Index seeks to provide an apples-to-apples comparison.

Source: Making Sense of All the Math - By Bob Tedeschi, The New York Times