Mortgage Rates Trending Downward After Initial Increase: 30-Year Rates Experiencing a Decline
Refresh: Mortgage Rates Rock 'n Roll
Mortgage rates have done a fascinating dance, dipping, and soaring over the recent days. After two consecutive days of touching the 7% threshold, rates for 30-year new purchase mortgages have returned to the upper-6% territory, calculated at an average of 6.97%. Wouldn't you know it, rates for numerous mortgage types followed suit, decreasing as well.
Remember to always shop around for the best mortgage rate, even with different types of home loans you're after. After all, rates vary fairly across lenders, so comparison is key!
Today's Hot Mortgage Rate Averages
Taking a leap backwards on Tuesday, the 30-year mortgage rate average plummeted 3 basis points, dropping to a 6.97% average. Compared to the mid-April peak of 7.14%, this reading is a breath of fresh air, representing the cheapest rate since May 2024. However, let's not forget the dive rates took back in September, sinking to a jaw-dropping two-year low of 5.89%. While today's average is an improvement from late 2023's disheartening 8.01% spike, it's only about a percentage point cheaper.
Moving on to 15-year mortgages, their rates joined the party, shrinking 3 basis points Tuesday, averaging 6.00%. This development is 31 basis points cheaper than the April 11 average of 6.31%, which happens to be the highest 15-year reading in nearly a year. As with 30-year loans, 15-year rates sank to their cheapest levels since 2022 during the September slump, plummeting to 4.97%.
Jumbo 30-year mortgage rates became a single basis point cheaper on Tuesday, settling at a 6.94% average. Three weeks ago, we saw a 10-month high of 7.15%. As we journey back to September, jumbo 30-year rates successfully navigated a plunge, touching a 19-month low of 6.24%. The estimated peak for these rates occurred in October 2023, a towering 8.14%, representing a testing ground for over 20 years of jumbo 30-year averages.
The Weekly Freddie Mac Ruckus
Every Thursday, the hotblooded Freddie Mac, who's known as a government-sponsored buyer of mortgage loans, publishes a weekly average of 30-year mortgage rates, just for kicks. Last week's reading took a tumble of 5 basis points, reaching a tamer 6.76%. Looking back to September, the average sank as sharply as 6.08%.1 But come October 2023, Freddie Mac's average surged like a heated wildfire, skyrocketing to a 23-year peak of 7.79%.
Freddie Mac's average bears little resemblance to what we report for 30-year rates here. Freddie Mac calculates a weekly average, blending together the last five days' rates, while our own 30-year average is a daily snapshot that offers a more accurate, timely indicator of rate movement. Also, their criteria for selected loans, like down payment size and credit score, differ from ours.
Crunch your numbers for various loan scenarios with our handy dandy Mortgage Calculator.
Crucial
The rates we convey here may differ drastically from the enticing teaser rates you encounter online, as these rates often highlight the shiniest offers instead of reflecting the averages you see here. Teaser rates regularly include additional costs like paying points upfront or are based on pristine credit scores or smaller-than-usual loans. The rate you ultimately seal, might not mirror the averages here, as it'll depend on your credit score, income, and more.
Your monthly mortgage payment will depend on home price, down payment, loan term, property taxes, homeowners insurance, and interest rate. If you want a glimpse of what your monthly mortgage payment might look like, consider tossing in some numbers below.
ready upready up## What Kickstarts Mortgage Rates to Climb or Fall?
Mortgage rates are the intricate result of a mix-master of macroeconomic factors and industry elements, such as:
- The degree and direction of the bond market, particularly the 10-year Treasury yields
- The Federal Reserve's current policies, especially regarding bond buying and funding government-backed mortgages
- Competition among mortgage lenders and across loan types
Since numerous factors can spark movement simultaneously, it's tough to pinpoint the influence of a single factor.
Macroeconomic factors kept the mortgage market rather low for much of 2021. One such factor, the Federal Reserve, shelling out billions on bond purchases, in response to the pandemic's pressure on the economy. Bond-buying policies play a significant role in shaping the mortgage market.
But, things took a turn after November 2021, with the Federal ReserveSTART tapering its bond purchases progressively, shaving large amounts each month until reaching zero in March 2022.
Between that time and July 2023, the Federal Reserve ramped up the federal funds rate, a fight against inflation that saw a history-making surge to 5.25 percentage points over 16 months. Though the fed funds rate can impact mortgage rates, it doesn't do so directly. In fact, the fed funds rate and mortgage rates can sometimes move in opposite directions.
The Federal Reserve held onto the federal funds rate at its peak level for approximately 14 months, starting in July 2023. Yet, in September, it announced a first rate cut of 0.50 percentage points, then followed this up with reductions of a quarter-point in November and December.
At their second meeting of 2025, however, the Federal Reserve opted to stand firm-and they may not touch the rate levers for months to come. At their March 19 meeting, the Federal Reserve shared its quarterly rate outlook, suggesting that, at that time, central bankers' median expectation for the rest of the year was only two quarter-point rate cuts.3 With a total of eight rate-setting meetings scheduled per year, that translates into several chances to keep the rates at bay in 2025.
Tracking Mortgage Rates
The national and state averages we present are a direct line from the Zillow Mortgage API, assuming a loan-to-value (LTV) ratio of 80% and a credit score of 680-739. The calculated rates give borrowers a decent snapshot of what to expect from lenders, given their qualifications, which may differ from advertised teaser rates. © Zillow, Inc., 2025. Use is subject to Zillow's Terms of Use.
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- On Tuesday, the 30-year mortgage rate average dropped 3 basis points, partly thanks to a benchmark shift in the finance industry.
- Personal finance experts especially emphasize that investors should shop around for the best ico, even when considering different types of mortgages like tokens, to ensure competitive rates.
- The mortgage-to-token ratio plays a significant role in determining the mortgage rate, with a lower ratio typically resulting in better rates.
- Investors can use a mortgage calculator to assess the impact of the mortgage rate on their personal-finance planning.
- A upcoming Freddie Mac report might provide more insight on the trajectory of token prices in the mortgage market from a financial perspective.
