Rates on 30-year purchase mortgages fell again Thursday to 7.20%, 12 basis points lower from the day prior. It's the fourth day the 30-year flagship average dropped, and it's now down 25 basis points since Friday, March 15. Most other mortgage rates for both purchase and refinance loans also declined.

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 seek.

National Averages of Lenders' Best Mortgage Rates
Loan Type	New Purchase	Refinance
30-Year Fixed	7.20%	7.56%
FHA 30-Year Fixed	7.42%	7.49%
Jumbo 30-Year Fixed	6.95%	6.95%
15-Year Fixed	6.57%	6.79%
5/6 ARM	7.77%	7.81%

Today's Mortgage Rate Averages: New Purchase

Rates on 30-year new purchase mortgages fell another 12 basis points Thursday. The flagship rate is now down 25 basis points since Friday, March 15, when it ticked up to 7.45%—adding 34 basis points over three days last week. The 30-year rate average is still far from its recent drop into 6% territory, which we saw at the start of February. But mortgage rates are still dramatically cheaper than in October when the 30-year average notched a historic 23-year peak of 8.45%. Rates on 15-year new purchase loans dipped 9 basis points on Thursday, lowering the average to 6.57%. Though current rates are significantly pricier than the seven-month low of 6.10% we saw just before the new year, they're still much more affordable than last fall's 7.59% average—a peak since 2000. Jumbo 30-year rates were steady again, holding at 6.95%. The average matches its highest mark since November. Although daily historical jumbo rates were not available before 2009, it's estimated the 7.52% peak reached last October was the most expensive jumbo 30-year average in more than 20 years. Other new purchase averages moved across the board Thursday, with gains and losses ranging from 3 to 19 basis points.

National Averages of Lenders' Best Rates - New Purchase
Loan Type	New Purchase Rates	Daily Change
30-Year Fixed	7.20%	-0.12
FHA 30-Year Fixed	7.42%	+0.09
VA 30-Year Fixed	7.20%	+0.06
Jumbo 30-Year Fixed	6.95%	No Change
20-Year Fixed	6.98%	-0.10
15-Year Fixed	6.57%	-0.09
FHA 15-Year Fixed	6.82%	No Change
Jumbo 15-Year Fixed	6.78%	-0.13
10-Year Fixed	6.46%	-0.10
10/6 ARM	7.53%	-0.04
7/6 ARM	7.74%	+0.19
Jumbo 7/6 ARM	6.58%	No Change
5/6 ARM	7.77%	+0.03
Jumbo 5/6 ARM	6.55%	-0.13

The Weekly Freddie Mac Average

Every Thursday afternoon, Freddie Mac publishes a weekly average of 30-year mortgage rates, and this week's reading tacked on 13 basis points to rise to 6.87%. Back in late October, Freddie Mac's average reached a historic peak of 7.79%—its most expensive level in 23 years. But since then, it has come down significantly, registering a recent low of 6.60% in mid-January.

Freddie Mac’s average differs from our own 30-year average for two notable reasons. First, Freddie Mac calculates a weekly average that blends five previous days of rates, while our Investopedia averages are daily, offering a more precise and timely indicator of rate movement. Second, the rates included in Freddie Mac's survey can include loans priced with discount points, while Investopedia’s averages only include zero-point loans.

Today's Mortgage Rate Averages: Refinancing

Thursday refinancing rates were mostly down for various loan types, with a few rates inching up or holding steady. The 30-year refi average pulled back by 21 basis points, a large drop after losing 8 basis points the day before. The refi average is now down 32 basis points since the start of the week. The spread between 30-year new purchase and refi rates is now 36 basis points. Four refi rate averages rose Thursday, with 5/6 ARM rates gaining the most with 5 basis points. The jumbo 30-year and jumbo 7/6 ARM held steady. All other rates declined, with the FHA 30-year refi rate average dropping the most with a loss of 29 basis points.

National Averages of Lenders' Best Rates - Refinance
Loan Type	Refinance Rates	Daily Change
30-Year Fixed	7.56%	-0.21
FHA 30-Year Fixed	7.49%	-0.29
VA 30-Year Fixed	7.50%	-0.13
Jumbo 30-Year Fixed	6.95%	No Change
20-Year Fixed	7.32%	-0.10
15-Year Fixed	6.79%	-0.06
FHA 15-Year Fixed	6.97%	+0.01
Jumbo 15-Year Fixed	6.78%	-0.13
10-Year Fixed	6.72%	-0.07
10/6 ARM	7.78%	+0.02
7/6 ARM	7.85%	+0.04
Jumbo 7/6 ARM	6.68%	No Change
5/6 ARM	7.81%	+0.05
Jumbo 5/6 ARM	6.55%	-0.13

Calculate monthly payments for different loan scenarios with our Mortgage Calculator.

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 on Thursday were Mississippi, Louisiana, Hawaii, Vermont, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. The states with the highest average mortgage rates were Minnesota, Arizona, Washington, and Oregon.

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 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 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.

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 has been maintaining the federal funds rate at its current level since July, with a fifth consecutive rate hold announced on March 20. Although inflation has come down considerably, it is still above the Fed's target level of 2%. Until the central bank feels confident inflation is falling sufficiently and reliably, it has said it is hesitant to start cutting rates.

Still, Fed committee members do collectively expect to reduce rates in 2024. The March 20 meeting included the latest installment of the Fed's "dot plot" forecast, which showed that the median expectation among the 19 Fed members is for three rate decreases—totaling 0.75 percentage points—by year's end. The dot plot also shows similar expected rate cuts in 2025 and 2026.

The Fed will hold six more meetings this year, with the next scheduled for June 11-12.

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 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.