After a two-day dip dropped 30-year new purchase rates to a two-week low, the flagship mortgage average inched just slightly higher Friday, landing at 7.38%. Rates on most other new purchase and refi loan types were flat or moved 5 basis points or less.

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're seeking.

National Averages of Lenders' Best Rates
Loan Type	New Purchase	Refinance
30-Year Fixed	7.38%	7.69%
FHA 30-Year Fixed	7.37%	7.81%
Jumbo 30-Year Fixed	6.82%	6.83%
15-Year Fixed	6.76%	6.92%
5/6 ARM	7.65%	7.73%

Today's Mortgage Rate Averages: New Purchase

After shooting up a little over a week ago to 7.48%—the priciest level in almost three months—30-year new purchase rates are down a tenth of a point. Ticking up 2 basis points Friday, the 30-year average is currently 7.38%, which is just above its lowest mark since Feb. 15. Given that 30-year rates dipped into 6% territory at the start of February, the current average is still elevated. But rates are notably cheaper than October, when the 30-year average notched a historic 23-year peak of 8.45%. Rates on 15-year new purchase loans added a slightly larger 4 basis points Friday, raising the average to 6.76%. That's two-thirds of a percentage point more expensive than we saw just before the new year, when 15-year rates sank to a seven-month low of 6.10%. But last October, 15-year rates soared to a 7.59% peak—their highest level since 2000. After jumping Tuesday to a three-month-high of 6.95%, jumbo 30-year rates ended the week with a hold at 6.82%. Though daily historical jumbo rates are not available before 2009, it's estimated the 7.52% peak reached in October was the most expensive jumbo 30-year average in more than 20 years. Most of the other new purchase averages similarly held steady or moved just a few basis points. The only averages to change by more than 5 points were VA 30-year loans, whose average shot up 21 basis points, and 20-year fixed-rate loans, which added 11 points.

National Averages of Lenders' Best Rates - New Purchase
Loan Type	New Purchase Rates	Daily Change
30-Year Fixed	7.38%	+0.02
FHA 30-Year Fixed	7.37%	+0.03
VA 30-Year Fixed	7.33%	+0.21
Jumbo 30-Year Fixed	6.82%	No Change
20-Year Fixed	7.23%	+0.11
15-Year Fixed	6.76%	+0.04
FHA 15-Year Fixed	6.85%	+0.02
Jumbo 15-Year Fixed	6.78%	+0.01
10-Year Fixed	6.67%	+0.05
10/6 ARM	7.58%	No Change
7/6 ARM	7.52%	-0.02
Jumbo 7/6 ARM	6.45%	No Change
5/6 ARM	7.65%	-0.05
Jumbo 5/6 ARM	6.55%	No Change

The Weekly Freddie Mac Average

Every Thursday afternoon, Freddie Mac publishes a weekly average of 30-year mortgage rates, and last week's reading added 4 basis points to reach 6.94%. 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

Refinancing averages were also mixed Friday, with most showing just minor movement. But the 30-year refi average fell a substantial 13 basis points, narrowing the spread between 30-year new purchase and refi rates to 31 basis points. Similar to new purchase rates, Friday's 15-year refi average added 5 basis points and the jumbo 30-year refi average marked time. The biggest refi mover was 20-year refi loans, whose average jumped 18 basis points higher.

National Averages of Lenders' Best Rates - Refinance
Loan Type	Refinance Rates	Daily Change
30-Year Fixed	7.69%	-0.13
FHA 30-Year Fixed	7.81%	+0.04
VA 30-Year Fixed	7.53%	-0.01
Jumbo 30-Year Fixed	6.83%	No Change
20-Year Fixed	7.65%	+0.18
15-Year Fixed	6.92%	+0.05
FHA 15-Year Fixed	6.92%	-0.05
Jumbo 15-Year Fixed	6.78%	No Change
10-Year Fixed	6.85%	+0.04
10/6 ARM	7.74%	No Change
7/6 ARM	7.79%	-0.04
Jumbo 7/6 ARM	6.55%	No Change
5/6 ARM	7.73%	-0.01
Jumbo 5/6 ARM	6.55%	No Change

Calculate monthly payments for different loan scenarios with our 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 Mississippi, Vermont, Hawaii, Iowa, and Louisiana, while the states with the most expensive rates were Minnesota, Arizona, Georgia, Oregon, and Tennessee.

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 opted to hold rates steady at its last four meetings, the last of which concluded Jan. 31. Though the central bank's statement signaled that we have almost certainly reached the end of Fed rate hikes in this campaign, Fed Chair Jerome Powell stated that inflation is still too high, and they will therefore proceed cautiously on deciding when to make the first rate cut. Specifically, he indicated it's unlikely they will be ready for any rate reduction by the time of their next meeting, which is scheduled for March 19–20.

After its December meeting, the Fed released quarterly data that showed almost 80% of Fed members expect there to be two to four rate cuts in 2024, with the median expectation being three rate decreases totaling 0.75%. But when in 2024 these will begin—and ultimately how many are implemented this year—is an open question at this time.

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.