Question

Mortgage interest rates hit a high of 20% in 1981 . Over the next 32 years, interest rates decreased by 77%. What was the interest rate in 2013 ? Round your answer to the nearest hundredth of a percent.

Answer 1

The interest rate in 2013 was 19.85%.

Step-by-step explanation:

To find the interest rate in 2013, we need to calculate the decrease of 77% over the 32-year period. Starting with the initial interest rate of 20%, we can calculate the decrease as follows:

Decrease = 20% × 77% = 0.20 × 0.77 = 0.1540

Next, we subtract the decrease from the initial interest rate to get the interest rate in 2013:

Interest rate in 2013 = 20% - 0.1540 = 19.8460%

Rounding to the nearest hundredth of a percent gives us an interest rate of 19.85% in 2013.