Rates on 30-year mortgages marked time Friday, closing out the week at a steady 6.98% average. That's just a few basis points above their lowest level of the new year. Rates for many other mortgage types also showed little to no movement, though a few averages saw moderate increases.
| National Averages of Lenders' Best Mortgage Rates | |
|---|---|
| Loan Type | New Purchase |
| 30-Year Fixed | 6.98% |
| FHA 30-Year Fixed | 7.46% |
| 15-Year Fixed | 6.14% |
| Jumbo 30-Year Fixed | 6.89% |
| 5/6 ARM | 7.23% |
| Provided via the Zillow Mortgage API | |
Since rates vary widely across lenders, it's always smart to shop around for your best mortgage rate and compare rates regularly, no matter the type of home loan you seek.
Rates on 30-year new purchase mortgages were flat Friday, after ticking up a minor 4 basis points the previous day. That leaves the average at 6.98%—just a bit above the 2025 low of 6.94%. Two weeks ago, the average had jumped to 7.13%—its highest level since May.
Back in September, rates had plunged to a two-year low, falling as far as 5.89%. But over the past three-plus months, the average surged more than 1.2 percentage points—before recently easing lower.
Looking further back, the 30-year average rose to a high 7.37% in April, so today's rates are improved versus last spring. They're also more than a percentage point cheaper than the historic 23-year peak of 8.01% reached in October 2023.
Rates on 15-year mortgages added a single basis point Friday, nudging the average to 6.14% Like its 30-year cousin, the 15-year average fell to a two-year low in September, sinking below the 5% mark to 4.97%. Though today's 15-year average is elevated, it remains nearly a percentage point below October 2023's historic 7.08% reading—a high since 2000.
Jumbo 30-year mortgage rates added 2 points Friday, raising the average to 6.89%. In September, jumbo 30-year rates plummeted to 6.24%, their cheapest average in 19 months. Meanwhile, it's estimated that the 8.14% peak of October 2023 was the most expensive jumbo 30-year average in 20-plus years.
| National Averages of Lenders' Best Rates – New Purchase | ||
|---|---|---|
| Loan Type | New Purchase Rates | Daily Change |
| 30-Year Fixed | 6.98% | No Change |
| FHA 30-Year Fixed | 7.46% | +0.09 |
| VA 30-Year Fixed | 6.51% | No Change |
| 20-Year Fixed | 6.81% | +0.01 |
| 15-Year Fixed | 6.14% | +0.01 |
| FHA 15-Year Fixed | 6.90% | +0.02 |
| 10-Year Fixed | 6.09% | +0.12 |
| 7/6 ARM | 7.15% | No Change |
| 5/6 ARM | 7.23% | No Change |
| Jumbo 30-Year Fixed | 6.89% | +0.02 |
| Jumbo 15-Year Fixed | 6.75% | +0.02 |
| Jumbo 7/6 ARM | 7.03% | +0.02 |
| Jumbo 5/6 ARM | 7.06% | No Change |
| Provided via the Zillow Mortgage API | ||
Every Thursday, Freddie Mac, a government-sponsored buyer of mortgage loans, publishes a weekly average of 30-year mortgage rates. Last week’s reading fell 8 basis points to push the average back below 7%—to 6.96% this week. As recently as Sept. 26, the average had sunk as low as 6.08%. Back in October 2023, however, Freddie Mac's average saw a historic rise, surging to a 23-year peak of 7.79%.
Freddie Mac's average differs from what we report for 30-year rates because Freddie Mac calculates a weekly average that blends five previous days of rates. In contrast, our Investopedia 30-year average is a daily reading, offering a more precise and timely indicator of rate movement. In addition, the criteria for included loans (e.g., amount of down payment, credit score, inclusion of discount points) varies between Freddie Mac's methodology and our own.
Calculate monthly payments for different loan scenarios with our Mortgage Calculator.
The rates we publish won’t compare directly with teaser rates you see advertised online since those rates are cherry-picked as the most attractive vs. the averages you see here. Teaser rates may involve paying points in advance or may be based on a hypothetical borrower with an ultra-high credit score or for a smaller-than-typical loan. The rate you ultimately secure will be based on factors like your credit score, income, and more, so it can vary from the averages you see here.
Mortgage rates are determined by a complex interaction of macroeconomic and industry factors, such as:
Because any number of these can cause fluctuations simultaneously, it's generally difficult to attribute the change to any one factor.
Macroeconomic factors kept the mortgage market relatively low for much of 2021. In particular, the Federal Reserve had been buying billions of dollars of bonds in response to the pandemic's economic pressures. This bond-buying policy is a major influencer of mortgage rates.
But starting in November 2021, the Fed began tapering its bond purchases downward, making sizable reductions each month until reaching net zero in March 2022.
Between that time and July 2023, the Fed aggressively raised the federal funds rate to fight decades-high inflation. While the fed funds rate can influence mortgage rates, it doesn't directly do so. In fact, the fed funds rate and mortgage rates can move in opposite directions.
But given the historic speed and magnitude of the Fed's 2022 and 2023 rate increases—raising the benchmark rate 5.25 percentage points over 16 months—even the indirect influence of the fed funds rate has resulted in a dramatic upward impact on mortgage rates over the last two years.
The Fed maintained the federal funds rate at its peak level for almost 14 months, beginning in July 2023. But on Sept. 18, the central bank announced a first rate cut of 0.50 percentage points, and then followed that with quarter-point reductions on Nov. 7 and Dec. 18.
However, the Fed's policy committee cautioned at its December meeting that further rate cuts may be fewer and farther between—with just two 2025 rate cuts projected instead of the previously predicted four reductions. This scaled-back forecast for the year has pushed 10-year Treasury yields higher, which in turn triggered a mortgage rate rise.
The national and state averages cited above are provided as is via the Zillow Mortgage API, assuming a loan-to-value (LTV) ratio of 80% (i.e., a down payment of at least 20%) and an applicant credit score in the 680–739 range. The resulting rates represent what borrowers should expect when receiving quotes from lenders based on their qualifications, which may vary from advertised teaser rates. © Zillow, Inc., 2024. Use is subject to the Zillow Terms of Use.
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