Forget everything you've heard about how difficult and costly it is to get a mortgage right now.

The great majority of borrowers are getting loans and they're paying less than they would have last fall and winter.

Don't expect mortgages to become significantly cheaper over the next several weeks even though the Federal Reserve resumed its efforts to push interest rates even lower on Wednesday.

It lowered the target rate for most consumer loans by another quarter-point only a few weeks after a half-point reduction in September -- the first decrease in more than four years.

But rates are already very reasonable and the Fed's campaign to make borrowing more affordable makes a big jump in mortgage costs just as unlikely.

Interest.com's most recent survey of major lenders found the average cost of a 30-year, fixed-rate loan -- the most popular way to finance a home -- was 6.31%.

Our extensive database of the best mortgage rates from across the country shows a number of lenders offering 30-year loans for 5.875% to 6.0% with fees of $1,000 or less.

You'd pay $620 a month in principal and interest for every $100,000 borrowed at the average rate, and $600 if you qualified for 6.0% loan.

When you look at what mortgages cost over the past 20 to 30 years, that's pretty reasonable.

Homebuyers paid 7% or 8% during the mid- to late-'90s, and double-digit rates were the norm throughout the '80s and early '90s.

In fact, mortgages donâ??t cost that much more than four years ago, when 30-year rates bottomed out at an average 5.28% -- the lowest they've been since Interest.com (and its print predecessors) began its weekly survey of major lenders in 1985.

All of the turmoil you've heard about -- lenders going out of business, investors losing hundreds of billions of dollars, thousands of employees being laid off, soaring foreclosure rates -- is very real.

But that crisis has mostly hurt two types of borrowers:

• Those who want a lot of money -- more than $417,000 to be exact.
• And anyone with bad credit -- those with credit scores below 620.

Here's why:

Banks and finance companies obtain much of the money they loan for mortgages from two government-chartered companies -- commonly referred to as Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae -- or large private investors such as retirement plans, hedge funds and insurers.

Those investors panicked at the prospect of billion-dollar losses because a growing number of homeowners are defaulting -- primarily borrowers with poor credit who were given dangerous, adjustable-rate mortgages.

Over the next 18 months more than 2 million ARMs given to borrowers with credit scores below 700 will begin charging higher interest rates, pushing payments up by 30% to 100%. That's more than many of those homeowners can afford.

Almost everyone blames this mess on lax lending standards and a screwed up system that rewarded mortgage brokers for pushing loans that borrowers had little or no chance of repaying.

As a result, private investors have stopped providing money for virtually all types of mortgages.

The best bet for anyone with bad credit is a government-backed loan program. Click here to learn more about finding a subprime mortgage.

Since Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae aren't allowed to buy mortgages for more than $417,000, jumbo loans have become more costly and difficult to get as well.

The average 30-year jumbo loan cost 7.04% in our Oct. 24 survey, down from 7.5% this summer, but almost a half-point higher than earlier this year.

What about ARMs?

Our survey found the average cost for 5/1 ARMs -- a 30-year loan with an initial rate guaranteed for five years and resetting each year after that -- is now 6.12%. That's about a tenth-of-a-point less than this time last year.

But the major reason borrowers opt for an ARM is to get lower monthly payments. At least for a few years.

With the difference between ARMs and fixed-rate loans so small right now, we urge you to go for fixed-rate financing. You'll know you've got a loan you can afford and never lose a night's sleep worrying about higher house payments.

Over the next few months, look for mortgage rates to remain about where they are. They could drift a little lower but there's very little chance they'll take a significant jump.

By Mike Sante

Interest.com Managing Editor

Have a question about your finances? Ask us at editors@interest.com