The 30-year mortgage rate average added back 2 basis points but remained below 7% on Thursday after hitting a seven-month low of 6.91% on Wednesday. The last time the flagship rate was this low was in the middle of May. The 15-year mortgage rate average fell an additional 2 basis points to a new seven-month low o🌜f 6.10%. Other new purchase mortgage rate averages were mixed, with the biggest movements coming from the FHA 30-year fixed and VA 30-year fixꦺed rate averages, which experienced double-digit increases.

Because rates vary widely across lenders, it's always smart to shop around for your best mortgage option and coꦦmpare rates regularly, no matter the type of home loan you're seeking.

Today's Mortgage Rate Averages: New Purchase

The 30-year new purchase mortgage rate average remains at a low not seen since May 15. Thursday's average rose by 2 basis points, after dropping by 15 basis points on Wednesday, now standing at 6.93%. Just three weeks ago, the 30-year rate sat over half a point higher, and it's a dramatic change from mid-October when 30-year mortgage rates surged to a 23-year peak of 8.45%.

Rates🔯 on 15-year new purchase loans dropped lower again Thurꦿsday, this time by 2 basis points, to sit at 6.10%, after losing 15 basis points Wednesday. This marks a level not seen since mid-May and is dramatically lower than October when 15-year rates soared to a 7.59% peak, the most expensive average since 2000.

T🔯he 10-year fixed rate average remained below 6% on Thursday, shedding another 4 basis points after dropping 22 basis points the day before. The 10-year fixed mortgage rate average has now reached another seven-month low of 5.93%. The biggest rate movers were the FHA 30-year and the VA 30-year averages, which jumped 17 and 13 basis points, respectively.

Jumbo 30-year rates marched in place for a fourth day Thursday, remaining steady at 6.31%, still the cheapest reading since June. Though daily historical jumbo rates are not available before 2009, it's estimated that the 7.52% peak in October was the most expensive average for jumbo 30-year loans in more than 20 years.

Today's Mortgage Rate Averages: Refinancing

The 30-year refi average gained 20 basis points on Thursday after losing 41 basis points the previous day to land at 7.51%. The difference between 30-year new purchase and refi rates grew to an unusu🔯ally large spread of 58 basis points. Refi rates for 15-year loans dropped a modest 2 basis points, while the jumbo 30-year refi average was flat again.

Rates on other refinancing terms were mixed on Thursday with most showing modest single-digit movements. The only exceptiℱon was the VA 30-year fixed rate, which, unlike its new purchase counterpart, dropped by 15 basis points.

Calculate monthly payments for different loan scenarios with our 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Mortgage Calculator.

Lowest Mortgage Rates by State

The lowest mortgage rates available vary depending on the state where originations occur. Mortgage rates can be influenced by state-level variations in credit score, average mortgage loan type, and size, in addition to individual lenders' varying risk management strategies.

On Thursday, only five states h🦂ad an average rate higher than 7%. The states with the cheapest 30-year new purchase rates were Vermont, Mississippi, Delaware, and Louisiana, while the states with the most expens𓄧ive averages were Minnesota, Georgia, Oregon, Arizona, and Nevada.

What Causes Mortgage Rates to Rise or Fall?

Mortgage rates are determined by 𓂃a complex interaction 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 fluctuations can be caused by any number of these at once, 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.

Since that time, the Fed has been aggressively raising the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:federal funds rate to fꦺight decades-high inflation. While the fed funds rate can influence mortgage rates, it does not directly do so. In fact, the fed funds rate and mortgage rates can mo🌄ve in opposite directions.

However, given the historic speed and magnitude of the Fed's 2022 and 2023 rate increases—raising the benchmark rate 5.25 percentage points over the last 18 months—even the indirect influence of the fed funds rate has resulted in an upward impact on mortgage rates over the last two years.

The Fed has opted to hold rates steady at its last three meetings, the last of which concluded Dec. 13. Though Fed Chair Jerome Powell indicated the rate-setting committee is leaving the possibility of another rate hike on the table, should inflation not progress further downward as projected, data released with the recent Fed announcement show that none of the 19 Fed members expect another rate increase. In fact, the committee's median expectation is that three rate cuts will be implemented by the end of 2024, with 80% predicting two to four rate decreases. The Fed's next rate-setting meeting will conclude on Jan. 31.

How We Track Mortgage Rates

The national averages cited above were calculated based on the lowest rate offered by more than 200 of the country's top lenders, assuming a 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:loan-to-value ratio (LTV) of 80% and an applicant with a FICO credit score in the 700–760 range. The resulting rates are representative of what customers should expect to see when receivinܫg actual quotes from lenders based on their qualifica🃏tions, which may vary from advertised teaser rates.

For our map of the best state rates, the lowest rate currenℱtly offered by a surveyed lender in that state is listed, assuming the same parameters of an 80% LTV and a credit score between 700–760.