The bright side of the credit crisis?

When I bought my house five years ago, for various reasons, I got an adjustable rate mortgage. I am easily a prime borrower, and was able to make a substantial down payment, so I didn't get one of the crazy negative-amortization-ninja-ARMs you heard so much about last summer, but it's an ARM nonetheless. Last year I started thinking about refinancing into a fixed rate mortgage. I'd eye interest rates from time to time, but never pulled the trigger.

As a result, I was happy to see a piece of mail from my lender the other day. I gleefully tore it open to find that my mortgage payment has gone down $130/month. My mortgage is tied to the 1-year t-bill, which due to the credit crisis is at historically low levels. When my mortgage reset, the interest rate actually went down, lowering my payment.

Next year at this time I may not be so happy about my situation. I'm still looking to refinance, but 30-year rates aren't great right now, at least compared to where they were last summer, so I'm holding off. The are many scenarios where long-term rates will rise significantly higher, so my position remains somewhat precarious.

That said, for now I'm happy to report that the credit crunch isn't all doom and gloom.