The states with the cheapest 30-year new purchase mortgage rate𓂃s Thursday were New York, Kentucky, Florida, Texas, California, Missouri, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania. The eight states registered averages between 6.81% and 6.94%.

Meanwhile, the states with the highest Thursday averages were Alaska, Iowa, Maine, Rhode Island, Wyoming, and Washington, D.C. The range of 30-y🎉ear averages for these states was 7.04% 🦩to 7.12%.

Mortgage rates vary by t♔he state where they originate. Different lenders operate in different regions, and rates can be influenced by state-level variations in credit score, average loan size, and regulations. Lenders also have varying risk management strategꦫies that influence the rates they offer.

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

National Mortgage Rate Averages

Rates on 30-year new purchase mortgages shot up 13 basis points Thursday, reaching a five-month high of 6.98%. Back in September, 30-year rates plunged to 5.89%—the cheapest average in two years—but they then surged higher♑. While currently still elevated, 30-year rates remain below where they were this summer, when they started July above 7%.

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 interac💯tion of macroeconomic and industry factors, such as:

• The level and direction of the bond market, especially 10-year Treasury yields
• The 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网: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 any 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 monthly reductions 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 mortgag꧋e 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官方开奖结果体彩网: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 meeting this week that, due to stubborn inflation, further rate cuts may be 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:fewer and farther between. This scaled-back forecast for 2025 reductions has pushed 10-year Treasury yields higher, which in turn has 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. The resജulting rates represent what borrowers should expect when receiving quotes from lenders based on their qualifications, which may vary frܫom advertised teaser rates. © Zillow, Inc., 2024. Use is subject to the Zillow Terms of Use.