Unless you're referring to something besides the baseline interest rate (in which case you might need to clarify, as it's non-obvious why it would be the case),

Unless you're referring to something besides the baseline interest rate (in which case you might need to clarify, as it's non-obvious why it would be the case), loans aren't "pretty expensive" now: they were "absurdly cheap" for the last decade. Setting your baseline during the post-financial-crisis period of permanent zero interest rates is not particularly realistic.