After a brief respite the previous day, the 30-year mortgage rate returned to its recent upward trend Wednesday, bringing the average to 6.85%. Rates for most other mortgage types added points as well.

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.

Today's New Purchase Mortgage Rate Averages

The 30-year new purchase mortgage rate reached 6.85% Wednesday, a three-week high. The flagship average has added nearly a third of a percentage point since last week's 6.53% reading, which was the cheapest level since Oct. 16.

Mortgage rates plunged in September to a two-year low, but they then roared back in October and ultimately climbed to a four-month high of 6.93% in November. Though today's average is lower, it's still nearly a full percentage point more expensive than the Sept. 17 low point of 5.89%.

Looking further back, however, 30-year mortgage rates remain far below an April peak of 7.37%. And they're 1.16 percentage points cheaper than the historic 23-year peak of 8.01% reached in October 2023.

Rates on 15-year mortgages added 7 basis points Wednesday, reaching a 6.01% average. Like their 30-year counterparts, 15-year rates dropped to a two-year low in September, sinking as far as 4.97%. Though today's 15-year average is elevated, it remains 1.07 percentage points below last fall's historic 7.08% reading—a high since 2000.

Jumbo 30-year mortgage rates meanwhile tacked on 10 basis points, bringing the Wednesday average to 6.83%. In September, jumbo 30-year rates had sunk to 6.24%, their cheapest average in 19 months. Although daily historical jumbo rates weren't published before 2009, it's estimated that the 8.14% peak we saw in 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. This week's reading jumped 12 basis points to a weekly average of 6.72%. As recently as Sept. 26, the average had sunk as far 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官方开奖结果体彩网:Mortgage Calculator.

What Causes Mortgage Rates to Rise or Fall?

Mortgage rates are determined by a complex interaction of🌳 macroeconomic and ind⛄ustry 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官方开奖结果体彩网: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官方开奖结果体彩网:federal funds rate to fight decades-high inflation. While the fed funds rate can influence mortgage rate𝐆s, it doesn't directly do so. In fact, the fed funds rate and mortgage rates can m⭕ove 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官方开奖结果体彩网:announced the first rate cut in what's expected to be a series of decreases in 2024 andꦦ likely 2025. This first reduction was by 0.50 percentage points.

On Nov. 7, the Fed 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:announced an additional rate cut of 0.25 percentage points, bringing the federal funds rate to 4.5% to 4.75%. With this cut, the fed funds rate reaches its lowest level since Mꦛarch 2🍨023.

Yesterday, the Fed 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:announced a further rate cut of 0.25 percentage points. However, the Fed's policy committee cautioned that due to stubborn inflation, further rate cuts may be fewer and farther between.

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官方开奖结果体彩网: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. Th🔥e 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 Zil🀅low Terms of Use.