After already registering a historic 23-year peak Wednesday, 30-year mortgage rates surged again Thursday—pushing the flagship average well into 8% territory. Averages for almost every loan type climbed by double-digit basis points, with multiple averages notching new two-decade highs.
The latest 30-year fixed-rate average is 8.10%. Rates vary widely across lenders, so it’s always smart to shop around for your best mortgage option and compare rates regularly, no matter what type of loan you’re shopping for.
Loan Type
New Purchase
Refinance
30-Year Fixed
8.10%
8.46%
FHA 30-Year Fixed
7.92%
8.07%
Jumbo 30-Year Fixed
7.27%
7.27%
15-Year Fixed
7.33%
7.52%
5/6 ARM
7.57%
7.76%
National averages of the lowest rates offered by more than 200 of the country’s top lenders, with a loan-to-value ratio (LTV) of 80%, an applicant with a FICO credit score of 700–760, and no mortgage points.
Today’s Mortgage Rate Averages: New Purchase
Rates on 30-year new purchase mortgages spiked 18 basis points Thursday, raising the average to 8.10%. Combining with three previous days of increases, the 30-year average is on a four-day climb of 27 basis points. Two days ago, the reading of 7.92% was already the average’s most expensive level since late 2000. That establishes this new average as the highest mark in at least 23 years.
FHA 30-year and VA 30-year rates also jumped Thursday, though by a lesser 10 and 13 basis points, respectively.
Note
Freddie Mac released its latest weekly mortgage average yesterday and revealed that 30-year rates had hit a 23-year high. The Freddie Mac average is currently 7.31%, eight basis points higher than August’s historic peak of 7.23%.
Freddie Mac’s averages differ from the averages we publish here due to Freddie Mac calculating a weekly average that blends five previous days of rates, and which may include loans priced with discount points. In contrast, Investopedia’s averages indicate daily rate movement and only include zero-point loans.
Rates on 15-year loans jumped 12 basis points Thursday, raising the average to 7.33%. The previous reading of 7.21% was the 15-year average’s highest level since 2001.
Jumbo 30-year rates also climbed 12 basis points, setting their own historic peak. Though daily jumbo averages are not available before 2009, it’s estimated that the current 7.27% reading is the most expensive level for jumbo 30-year loans in at least 20 years.
Rate averages for almost every new purchase loan type spiked by double-digit basis points Thursday, with the biggest gainer being 10-year fixed-rate loans, whose average surged 21 basis points. The smallest increase of the day was seen for 5/6 ARM loans, which gained just 4 basis points on average.
Loan Type
New Purchase Rates
Daily Change
30-Year Fixed
8.10%
+0.18
FHA 30-Year Fixed
7.92%
+0.10
VA 30-Year Fixed
7.83%
+0.13
Jumbo 30-Year Fixed
7.27%
+0.12
20-Year Fixed
8.01%
+0.17
15-Year Fixed
7.33%
+0.12
FHA 15-Year Fixed
7.35%
+0.09
Jumbo 15-Year Fixed
7.27%
+0.12
10-Year Fixed
7.38%
+0.21
10/6 ARM
7.73%
+0.10
7/6 ARM
7.60%
+0.09
Jumbo 7/6 ARM
7.08%
+0.12
5/6 ARM
7.57%
+0.04
Jumbo 5/6 ARM
7.19%
+0.13
Today’s Mortgage Rate Averages: Refinancing
Refinancing rates moved mostly in line with new purchase rates Thursday, though one average—for FHA 30-year refi loans—declined a few points. The 30-year refi average jumped the same 18 basis points as its new purchase sibling, keeping the spread between 30-year refi and new purchase rates at 36 basis points. The 15-year refi average meanwhile added 14 basis points while the jumbo 30-year refi average added 12 points.
Refi rates for 5/6 and 7/6 ARM loans were close to flat, tacking on just 3 and 4 basis points, respectively.
Loan Type
Refinance Rates
Daily Change
30-Year Fixed
8.46%
+0.18
FHA 30-Year Fixed
8.07%
-0.04
VA 30-Year Fixed
8.07%
+0.14
Jumbo 30-Year Fixed
7.27%
+0.12
20-Year Fixed
8.49%
+0.26
15-Year Fixed
7.52%
+0.14
FHA 15-Year Fixed
7.41%
+0.06
Jumbo 15-Year Fixed
7.27%
+0.12
10-Year Fixed
7.48%
+0.09
10/6 ARM
7.93%
+0.07
7/6 ARM
7.78%
+0.03
Jumbo 7/6 ARM
7.19%
+0.13
5/6 ARM
7.76%
+0.03
Jumbo 5/6 ARM
7.19%
+0.13
Calculate monthly payments for different loan scenarios with our Mortgage Calculator.
The rates you see here generally won’t compare directly with teaser rates you see advertised online, since those rates are cherry-picked as the most attractive, while these rates are averages. Teaser rates may involve paying points in advance, or they may be selected based on a hypothetical borrower with an ultra-high credit score or taking a smaller-than-typical loan. The mortgage rate you ultimately secure will be based on factors like your credit score, income, and more, so it may be higher or lower than the averages you see here.
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 lowest 30-year new purchase averages Thursday were Vermont, Delaware, Mississippi, North Dakota, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin, while the states with the highest averages were Ohio, Hawaii, Utah, Arizona, and Texas.
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 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 a cumulative 5.25% 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 two more rate-setting meetings scheduled in 2023, concluding Nov. 1 and Dec. 13. Though it’s too soon to reliably predict the central bank’s next move, Fed Chair Jerome Powell has made it clear that another rate increase is certainly possible at either meeting.
Methodology
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 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 receiving actual quotes from lenders based on their qualifications, which may vary from advertised teaser rates.
For our map of the best state rates, the lowest rate currently 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.
Investopedia / Alice Morgan
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