After climbing last week to their most expensive level since last spring, rates on 30-year mortgages dropped four days in a row and then held firm Wednesday at a 6.94% average. That matches their lowest reading of the new year. Rate movement was mixed for other mortgage types.

Since rates vary widely across lenders, it's always smart to shop around for your 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:best mortgage rate and compare rates regularly, no mไatter the type of home loan you seek.

Today's New Purchase Mortgage Rate Averages

Rates on 30-year new purchase mortgages marched in place Wednesday, after a four-day drop of 19 points. That leaves the average at 6.94%, its cheapest level so far in 2025. It's welcome relief after the average surged to 7.13% a little over a week ago—the highest reading since May 30.

In September, rates had plunged to a two-year low, falling as far as 5.89%. But over the pꦦast three-plus months, the average surged more than 1.2 percentage points higher—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 ticked up a single basis point Wednesday, to a 6.07% average. Over the previous four days, the average had shed 23 basis points. Like its 30-year counterpart, 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 about a percentage point below October 2023's historic 7.08% reading—a high since 2000.

Jumbo 30-year mortgage rates were flat Wednesday, leaving the average at 6.83%. That's 15 basis points lower than a week ago. 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.

The Weekly Freddie Mac Average

Every Thursday, Freddie Mac, a government-sponsored buyer of mortgage loans, publishes a weekly average of 30-year mortgage rates. Today’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 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Mortgage Calculator.

What Causes Mortgage Rates to Rise or Fall?

Mortgage rates are determined by a complex interac🔯tion of macroeconomic and industry factors, such as:

• The level and direction of the bond market, especially 10-year Treasury yields
• The Federal Reserve's current monetary policy, especially as it relates to bond buying and funding government-backed mortgages
• Competition between mortgage lenders and across loan types

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 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询: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 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:federal funds rate to fight decades-high inflation. While the fed funds ra🥂te 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 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询: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.

How We Track Mortgage Rates

The national and state averages cited above are provided as is via the Zillow Mortgage API, assuming a 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:loan-to-value (LTV) ratio of 80% (i.e., a down pay💮ment 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.