Though they ticked up slightly Thursdayꦿ, 30-year new purchase rates are remaining close to their lowest level since May. The average is now at 7.04%, compared to the 7.01% level registered on t♚he two previous days. The 15-year average is also near its cheapest price since May, while the jumbo 30-year average dropped Thursday to its lowest level since June.

Rates vary widely across lenders, so it's always smart to shop around for your best mortgage option and compare rates regularly, no matter the type of home loan you're seekin﷽g.

Today's Mortgage Rate Averages: New Purchase

Rates on 30-year mortgages plunged almost four-tenths of a percentage point last week, and earlier this week moved even a basis point lower to 7.01%, their lowest average since May 17. Thursday saw the flagship average move up sꦑlightly, but the 3-basis-point gain still leaves the average at just 7.04%. In mid-October, 30-year mortgage rates soared to a 23-year peak of 8.45%.

Rates on 15-year new purchase loans also fell dramatically last week—and held steady Thursday at a 6.23% average. That's just a basis point above the lowest level we've seen since May 15. In contrast, October saw 15-year rates surge to a 7.59% peak, the most expensive average since 2000.

After holding steady for three days, jumbo 30-year rates sank 13 basis points Thursday. That drops the average to 6.31%. its 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.

Most other loan averages showed just minor movement Thursd𒆙ay, with the exception of VA 30-year rates, which continued their recent volatility with a jump of 25 basis poiꦏnts.

Today's Mortgage Rate Averages: Refinancing

Refinancing rates were largely flat Thursday, with most av♚erages moving in line with their new purchase siblings. The 30-year refi average tacked on a single basis point, keeping the spread between 30-year new purchase and refi rates at an atypically wide 59 basis points. Refi rates for 15-year loans meanwhile dippe🦄d 1 basis point, while the jumbo 30-year refi average dropped 12 basis points.

Thursday's biggest refi rate mover was the FHA 30-year refi average, which spiked a dramatic 42 basis points. The majority of other refi rates showed little or no change.

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.

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.

The states with the cheapest 30-year new purchase rates were Delaware, Vermont, Mississippi, Iowa, Louisiana, New York, North Carolina, and Tennessee while the states with the most expensive averages were🃏 Washington, Idaho, Maryland, Arizona, Minnesota, Oregon, and Nevada.

What Causes Mortgage Rates to Rise or Fall?

Mortgage rates are determined by a 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 Nov. 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 rates, it does not directly do so. In fact, the fed funds rate and mortgage ✤rates can move 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 last week. 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 ﷺexpect 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 f🃏our rate decreases. The Fed's next rate-setting meeting will conclude 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官方开奖结果体彩网:loan-to-value ratio (LTV) of 80% and a꧙n applicant with a FICO credit score in the 700–760 range. The resulting rates are representat🥀ive of what customers should expect to see when receiving actual quotes from lenders based on their qualifications, which may vary from advertised teaser rates.

For our map of th🍸e best state rates, the lowest rate currently offered by a surv🐻eyed lender in that state is listed, assuming the same parameters of an 80% LTV and a credit score between 700–760.