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Published 5:37 a.m. UTC Feb. 23, 2024

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The average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage is 7.56%, and on a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage, it’s 6.76%. The average rate on a 30-year jumbo mortgage is 7.38%.

*Data accurate as of February 22, 2024, the latest data available.

30-year fixed mortgage rates

The average mortgage rate for 30-year fixed loans rose today to 7.56% from 7.40% last week, according to data from Curinos. This is up from last month’s 7.17% and up from a year ago when it was 6.11%.

At the current 30-year fixed rate, you’ll pay about $706 each month for every $100,000 you borrow — up from about $699 last week.

Ready to buy? Compare the best mortgage lenders

15-year fixed mortgage rates

The mortgage rates for 15-year fixed loans inched up today to 6.76% from 6.64% last week. Today’s rate is up from last month’s 6.42% and up from a year ago when it was 5.52%.

At the current 15-year fixed rate, you’ll pay about $888 each month for every $100,000 you borrow, up from about $882 last week.

30-year jumbo mortgage rates

The mortgage rates for 30-year jumbo loans rose today to 7.38% from 7.06% last week. This is up from last month’s 7.06% and up from 5.88% last year.

At the current 30-year jumbo rate, you’ll pay around $695 each month for every $100,000 you borrow, up from about $693 last week.

Methodology

To determine average mortgage rates, Curinos uses a standardized set of parameters. For conventional mortgages, the calculations are based on an owner-occupied, one-unit property with a loan amount of $350,000. For jumbo mortgages, the loan amount is $766,550. These calculations assume an 80% loan-to-value ratio, a credit score of 740 or higher and a 60-day lock period.

Frequently asked questions (FAQs)

Mortgage rates are determined by a variety of factors, including the overall economy, inflation and the actions of the Federal Reserve. Mortgage lenders then set their loan rates based on these economic elements.

The rate you’re offered on a mortgage will also depend not only on the lender but also on your credit score, income, debt-to-income (DTI) ratio and other parts of your financial profile.

If you opt for a rate lock, you can typically do so for 30 to 60 days, depending on the lender. In some cases, you might be able to lock in your rate for up to 120 days.

Keep in mind that while some lenders allow you to lock in a mortgage rate for free, you’ll likely have to pay a fee for a longer lock period. This fee generally ranges from 0.25% to 0.5% of your loan amount. You could also be charged a fee if you want to extend the lock period — usually 0.375% of the loan amount.

There are several strategies that could help you qualify for the best mortgage rate, such as:

  • Checking your credit: When you apply for a mortgage, the lender will review your credit to determine your creditworthiness as well as your interest rate. In general, the higher your credit score, the lower your rate will be. So before you apply, it’s a good idea to check your credit to see where you stand. If you find any errors in your credit report, dispute them with the appropriate credit bureau to potentially boost your score.
  • Comparing lenders: Taking the time to shop around and compare your options from as many lenders as possible can help you find the best deal. In addition to rates, make sure to also consider each lender’s terms, fees and eligibility requirements.
  • Improving your credit score: If you have less-than-perfect credit and can wait to apply for a mortgage, it could be worth working to improve your credit beforehand to qualify for better rates in the future. Some possible ways to boost your credit include paying all of your bills on time and aiming to keep your credit utilization (the amount of credit you’ve used compared to your credit limits) on credit cards and lines of credit at 30% or less.
  • Reducing debt: Paying down debt could help lower your DTI ratio, which is how much you owe in monthly debt payments compared to your income. Having a lower DTI ratio can make you look like less of a risk in the eyes of a lender, which can result in a lower rate.
  • Choosing a shorter repayment term: Lenders typically offer lower rates to borrowers who opt for shorter terms. For example, you’ll likely get a lower rate on a 15-year mortgage compared to a 30-year loan.

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Blueprint is an independent publisher and comparison service, not an investment advisor. The information provided is for educational purposes only and we encourage you to seek personalized advice from qualified professionals regarding specific financial decisions. Past performance is not indicative of future results.

Blueprint has an advertiser disclosure policy. The opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the Blueprint editorial staff alone. Blueprint adheres to strict editorial integrity standards. The information is accurate as of the publish date, but always check the provider’s website for the most current information.

Jamie Young is Lead Editor of loans and mortgages at USA TODAY Blueprint. She has been writing and editing professionally for 12 years. Previously, she worked for Forbes Advisor, Credible, LendingTree, Student Loan Hero, and GOBankingRates. Her work has also appeared on some of the best-known media outlets including Yahoo, Fox Business, Time, CBS News, AOL, MSN, and more. Jamie is passionate about finance, technology, and the Oxford comma. In her free time, she likes to game, play with her two crazy cats (Detective Snoop and his girl Friday), and try to keep up with her ever-growing plant collection.

Megan Horner is editorial director at USA TODAY Blueprint. She has over 10 years of experience in online publishing, mostly focused on credit cards and banking. Previously, she was the head of publishing at Finder.com where she led the team to publish personal finance content on credit cards, banking, loans, mortgages and more. Prior to that, she was an editor at Credit Karma. Megan has been featured in CreditCards.com, American Banker, Lifehacker and news broadcasts across the country. She has a bachelor’s degree in English and editing.

Ashley is a USA TODAY Blueprint loans and mortgages deputy editor who has worked in the online finance space since 2017. She’s passionate about creating helpful content that makes complicated financial topics easy to understand. She has previously worked at Forbes Advisor, Credible, LendingTree and Student Loan Hero. Her work has appeared on Fox Business and Yahoo. Ashley is also an artist and massive horror fan who had her short story “The Box” produced by the award-winning NoSleep Podcast. In her free time, she likes to draw, play video games, and hang out with her black cats, Salem and Binx.

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Source: usatoday.com

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It was destined to be a mostly boring, sideways week (to whatever extent “destiny” actually has any predictive value).  Perhaps it’s more fair to say that “boring and sideways” is the least surprising outcome in light of the incredibly sparse event calendar.  European data and policy speeches have been in far greater supply, generally hurting bonds on Wednesday and now helping today.  The net effect restores Treasuries to Wednesday AM levels and sets the week on track to end almost perfectly unchanged vs last week.

Source: mortgagenewsdaily.com

Apache is functioning normally

Our experts answer readers’ home-buying questions and write unbiased product reviews (here’s how we assess mortgages). In some cases, we receive a commission from our partners; however, our opinions are our own.

The economy has been doing surprisingly well so far this year, and it’s pushing mortgage rates back up.

Average 30-year mortgage rates rose 13 basis points to 6.90% this week, according to Freddie Mac. This is the closest this rate has been to 7% since mid-December.

Average 15-year mortgage rates also increased to 6.29% this week, a 17-point jump.

“Strong incoming economic and inflation data has caused the market to re-evaluate the path of monetary policy, leading to higher mortgage rates,” Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist, said in a press release. “Historically, the combination of a vibrant economy and modestly higher rates did not meaningfully impact the housing market. The current cycle is different than historical norms, as housing affordability is so low that good economic news equates to bad news for homebuyers, who are sensitive to even minor shifts in affordability.”

Once the Federal Reserve starts lowering the federal funds rate, mortgage rates are expected to go down as well. But the Fed is waiting for more data showing that inflation is coming down sustainably. Based on the data we’ve seen so far, we might not get a Fed cut until later this year.

Currently, investors believe that we won’t see the Fed cut rates until June at the earliest, according to the CME FedWatch Tool. And depending on how inflation continues to trend, we may need to wait even longer.

This means we may be in for a much more subdued homebuying season than what was initially expected. If you’re committed to buying a home this year even if rates remain high, you may benefit from less competition on the market.

But if you’re waiting for rates to drop before you buy, it may be wise to use this time to pad your down payment savings, so when the time comes to jump into the market, you’re able to make strong, competitive offers.

Today’s mortgage rates

Mortgage type Average rate today
This information has been provided by Zillow. See more mortgage rates on Zillow Real Estate on Zillow

Today’s refinance rates

Mortgage type Average rate today
This information has been provided by Zillow. See more mortgage rates on Zillow Real Estate on Zillow

Mortgage Calculator

Use our free mortgage calculator to see how today’s interest rates will affect your monthly payments:

Mortgage Calculator

$1,161 Your estimated monthly payment

Total paid$418,177
Principal paid$275,520
Interest paid$42,657
  • Paying a 25% higher down payment would save you $8,916.08 on interest charges
  • Lowering the interest rate by 1% would save you $51,562.03
  • Paying an additional $500 each month would reduce the loan length by 146 months

By clicking on “More details,” you’ll also see how much you’ll pay over the entire length of your mortgage, including how much goes toward the principal vs. interest.

Mortgage Rate Projection for 2024

Mortgage rates started ticking up from historic lows in the second half of 2021 and increased dramatically in 2022 and throughout most of 2023.

Many forecasts expect rates to fall this year now that inflation has been coming down. In the last 12 months, the Consumer Price Index rose by 3.1%, a significant slowdown compared when it peaked at 9.1% in 2022. But we’ll likely need to see more slowing before rates can drop substantially.

For homeowners looking to leverage their home’s value to cover a big purchase — such as a home renovation — a home equity line of credit (HELOC) may be a good option while we wait for mortgage rates to ease. Check out some of our best HELOC lenders to start your search for the right loan for you.

A HELOC is a line of credit that lets you borrow against the equity in your home. It works similarly to a credit card in that you borrow what you need rather than getting the full amount you’re borrowing in a lump sum. It also lets you tap into the money you have in your home without replacing your entire mortgage, like you’d do with a cash-out refinance.

Current HELOC rates are relatively low compared to other loan options, including credit cards and personal loans. 

When Will House Prices Come Down?

We aren’t likely to see home prices drop this year. In fact, they’ll probably rise.

Fannie Mae researchers expect prices to increase 3.20% in 2024 and 0.30% in 2025, while the Mortgage Bankers Association expects a 4.10% increase in 2024 and a 3.30% increase in 2024.

Sky high mortgage rates have pushed many hopeful buyers out of the market, slowing homebuying demand and putting downward pressure on home prices. But rates have since eased, removing some of that pressure. The current supply of homes is also historically low, which will likely push prices up.

What Happens to House Prices in a Recession?

House prices usually drop during a recession, but not always. When it does happen, it’s generally because fewer people can afford to purchase homes, and the low demand forces sellers to lower their prices.

How Much Mortgage Can I Afford?

A mortgage calculator can help you determine how much house you can afford. Play around with different home prices and down payment amounts to see how much your monthly payment could be, and think about how that fits in with your overall budget.

Typically, experts recommend spending no more than 28% of your gross monthly income on housing expenses. This means your entire monthly mortgage payment, including taxes and insurance, shouldn’t exceed 28% of your pre-tax monthly income.

The lower your rate, the more you’ll be able to borrow, so shop around and get preapproved with multiple mortgage lenders to see who can offer you the best rate. But remember not to borrow more than what your budget can comfortably handle.

Molly Grace

Mortgage Reporter

Source: businessinsider.com

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Rates Testing Ceilings After Bond Auction and European Weakness

By:
Matthew Graham

Wed, Feb 21 2024, 4:57 PM

Rates Testing Ceilings After Bond Auction and European Weakness

Bonds managed to start the day in modestly stronger territory, but it’s just as fair to say “sideways.”  Things didn’t start moving until after 10am when European bond market weakness spilled over to Treasuries.  Yields drifted several bps higher into the 20yr bond auction and popped to the highs of the day after the lackluster auction results came out.  The 4.32+ ceiling remained intact despite a bit of volatility surrounding the release of what was a mostly uneventful reading of the Fed Minutes.  If the proof is in the pudding, consider that Treasury volumes were much higher after the auction than the Fed minutes, and the latter only caused about 1bp of movement.  Translation: the Fed Minutes contained no surprises. 

09:57 AM

Modestly stronger overnight despite weakness in EU bond market.  10yr down half a bp at 4.27.  MBS up 2 ticks (.06).

12:06 PM

2 mini waves of selling into the PM hours.  MBS down 5 ticks (.16) and 10yr up 2.8bps at 4.303.

01:07 PM

Sloppy 20yr auction.  10yr up 4.8bps at 4.323.  MBS down a quarter point.

02:49 PM

Sideways after Fed minutes, but losing some more ground into 3pm close.  10yr up 5.4bps ta 4.329.  MBS down 9 ticks (.28).

 Download our mobile app to get alerts for MBS Commentary and streaming MBS and Treasury prices.

Source: mortgagenewsdaily.com

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A sluggish housing market for most of last year began to heat up as the calendar turned to 2024.

In recent weeks, however, the market has cooled once again.

A surge in mortgage rates accounts for the slowdown in the housing market, experts told ABC News, pointing to elevated home prices pushed out of reach for most consumers when combined with high borrowing costs.

The jump in mortgage rates is due to stubbornly high inflation that has delayed interest rate cuts at the Federal Reserve, experts said. Mortgage rates track yields on 10-year treasury bonds, which are highly sensitive to the Fed’s benchmark rate.

“High mortgage rates and high housing prices have led to an affordability problem of a dimension that we haven’t seen in decades,” Susan Wachter, a professor of real estate at University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business, told ABC News.

The average interest rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage has soared to 6.9%, rebounding after a steady decline at the end of last year, according to a report from Freddie Mac on Thursday.

Meanwhile, home sales have plummeted. Mortgage-purchase applications fell 10% from a week earlier, data from the Mortgage Bankers Association on Wednesday showed.

“Existing home sales have fallen off a cliff,” Lu Liu, also a professor at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, told ABC News.

The housing market dynamic traces back to a highly anticipated announcement in December, during which the central bank revealed expectations of interest rate cuts in 2024.

The signal elicited a boost of optimism among key market players, who foresaw the end of the Fed’s fight against inflation and the decline of interest rates from near-historic highs. In turn, yields fell on 10-year treasury bonds, and mortgage rates soon followed suit.

Inflation, however, has refused to cooperate. Stronger than expected economic performance and resilient consumer demand have helped buoy price increases, keeping them above the Fed’s target rate.

“The strengthening of the economy is a surprise,” Wachter said. “It does raise questions about the Fed’s next steps.”

Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell holds a news conference after a Federal Open Market Committee meeting in Washington, Jan. 31, 2024.

Julia Nikhinson/AFP via Getty Images

Consumer prices rose 3.1% in January compared to a year ago, slowing markedly from the previous month but missing expectations of an even larger cooldown, a report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics earlier this month showed.

Inflation stands well below a peak of 9% last year but remains more than a percentage point above the Fed’s target rate of 2%.

“The inflation rate is reflected in the 10-year treasury rate, which pushes mortgages up,” Wachter said.

When the Fed initiated the rise of bond yields with its first rate hike of the current series in March 2022, the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate stood at just 4.45%. The average mortgage is now nearly 2.5 percentage points higher.

Each percentage point increase in a mortgage rate can add thousands of dollars, or even tens of thousands, in additional costs each year, depending on the price of the house, according to Rocket Mortgage.

The rising mortgage rates have put a freeze on the housing market in part because home prices remain high, Liu said. Potential homebuyers would rather stick with mortgages that have comparatively low rates rather than shift to higher rates that would compound the elevated home prices, she added.

“A lot of people are holding back from moving or selling,” Liu said.

Observers would expect home prices to fall amid low consumer demand, but the stubbornly high housing costs may be owed to that reluctance among prospective homebuyers to first put their own homes up for sale, Liu added.

“It’s a little bit of a puzzle why home prices have remained stable or even ticked up,” Liu said. “Home owners may be buying, but they’re not selling.”

Source: abcnews.go.com

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Prospects for the spring market look a bit brighter as January numbers show an increase in both the pace of existing home sales and the size of the unsold inventory. The National Association of Realtors® (NAR) said sales of pre-owned single-family houses, townhomes, condominiums, and cooperative apartments were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.00 million. This was an increase of 3.1 percent from the December rate of 3.88 million and was 1.7 percent below the pace in January 2023.  December sales figures were also revised slightly higher, cutting the previously reported year-over-year decline nearly in half to -3.7 percent.

Single-family home sales rose from 3.48 million in December to 3.6 million, a gain of 3.4 percent, and remained lower year-over-year by 1.4 percent. Condo sales were flat at an annual rate of 400,000 and were 4.8 percent lower than one year earlier.

Existing home sales beat analysts’ expectations, but not by much. The consensus forecast from Econoday was 3.97 million.

“While home sales remain sizably lower than a couple of years ago, January’s monthly gain is the start of more supply and demand,” said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. “Listings were modestly higher, and home buyers are taking advantage of lower mortgage rates compared to late last year.”

Those listings did expand in January, up 2.0 percent to 1.01 million units. This is estimated to be a 3.0-month supply at the current rate of sales, but that estimate is virtually unchanged from that in both December and January 2023. Properties typically remained on the market for 36 days in January, up from 29 days in December and 33 days in January 2023.

NAR’s current president Kevin Sears said the association has been pushing Congress to pass H.R. 1321, The More Homes on the Market Act. The bill would lower taxes on home sales and hopefully bring additional inventory to the market. “More listings will help Americans move,” Sears said.

Home prices continued to rise, posting the seventh consecutive month of annual price gains. The median for all residential sales climbed 5.1 percent to $379,100. The median single-family home price was up 5.0 percent to $383,500 while condo prices appreciated 5.7 percent to $321,100.

The median home price reached an all-time high for the month of January,” Yun said. “Multiple offers are common on mid-priced homes, and many homes were still sold within a month. The elevated share of cash deals – 32 percent – indicated a market full of multiple offers and propelled by record-high housing wealth.”

First-time buyers were responsible for 28 percent of January sales and individual investors and second-home buyers accounted for 17 percent. Only 2.0 percent of sales were considered to be distressed.

All four major regions posted annual price increases but only one saw annual growth in sales. In the Northeast the sales rate of 480,000 units was unchanged from December but 5.9 percent lower than in January 2023. Median prices jumped 10.1 percent to $434.300.

A 2.2 percent increase brought Midwest sales to an annual rate of 950,000 in January, down 3.1 percent for the year. The median price was $271,700, up 7.6 percent from January 2023.

Existing home sales in the South rose 4.0 percent from December to an annual rate of 1.84 million, closing to within 1.6 percent of sales 12 months earlier. Median prices were up 4.1 percent to $345,100.

Sales in the West rose 4.3 percent compared to December to 730,000 annual units, 2.8 percent higher than the prior January. The median price in the region gained 6.3 percent to $572,100.

Source: mortgagenewsdaily.com

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Editor’s Note: Sign up for CNN’s Meanwhile in China newsletter, which explores what you need to know about the country’s rise and how it impacts the world.


Hong Kong
CNN
 — 

China’s central bank has cut its key mortgage reference rate by a record amount, as it ramps up efforts to stem a prolonged property crisis.

The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) announced Tuesday that it would cut its five-year loan prime rate (LPR) from 4.2% to 3.95%, while keeping the one-year LPR unchanged at 3.45%.

The 25 basis point cut to the five-year LPR is the biggest reduction the central bank has made since it revamped its LPR system in 2019. That August, the central bank announced that the LPR would become the new reference rates for lending by Chinese banks.

The latest cut was also the first reduction to the five-year LPR since June 2023.

The LPR is the rate at which commercial banks lend to their best customers. The five-year rate usually serves as a reference for mortgages.

“Today’s 25 (basis point) cut to the five-year LPR is clearly aimed at supporting the housing market,” analysts from Capital Economics said in a note on Tuesday.

“On its own, it will not revive new home sales. But coupled with efforts to provide increased credit support to developers, today’s cut should help to reduce pressure on the property sector somewhat,” they said.

China’s economy has been hobbled by a real estate downturn since 2021, when a government crackdown on developers’ borrowing triggered a liquidity crisis in the sector.

The property market has since entered a prolonged slump, marked by an ongoing decline in both investment in and sales of property. Dozens of major developers have defaulted on their debt, with Evergrande, once the country’s second largest homebuilder, ordered to liquidate last month.

The crisis has triggered widespread protests by unpaid construction workers, buyers of unfinished homes and frustrated investors facing financial losses. It has also spilled over to the country’s massive shadow banking industry, with Zhongrong Trust declaring itself severely insolvent last year after failing to repay its debt.

Beijing has scrambled to revive the property sector, which accounts for as much as 30% of China’s gross domestic product.

Measures unveiled include slashing interest rates, reducing the size of down payments, encouraging banks to extend maturing loans to developers and loosening restrictions on home purchases in Chinese cities.

Capital flight

China’s economy faces a litany of other problems, including deflation, low confidence and accelerated capital flight.

The country’s direct investment liabilities, a measure of foreign direct investment, reached $33 billion in 2023, according to data released by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange on Sunday.

The gauge, which measures direct investments by foreign-owned entities in China, was down 82% from 2022 and stands at its lowest level since 1993.

While an uncertain economic outlook and rising geopolitical tensions are partly to blame for the exodus, foreign companies and investors have also grown wary of increasing political risks in China, including the possibility of raids and detentions.

The country’s stock markets have suffered a prolonged slump since their recent peaks in 2021, with more than $6 trillion in market value having been wiped out from the Shanghai, Shenzhen and Hong Kong markets.

Source: cnn.com

Apache is functioning normally

In the short term, mortgage rates haven’t experienced any extreme movement since earlier in the month, but a slow trickle of weakness is starting to add up.  As of last Friday, the average 30yr fixed rate was as high as it’s been since late November.  There was a modest recovery yesterday, and it has now been erased by today’s market movement.

In other words, the average lender is now back in line with last Friday’s rates–the highest since November 30th, 2023. That’s the bad news.  The good news is that those rates are still almost a full percent lower than the long-term highs seen in October.

Good, bad, or indifferent… where we’re going is more interesting than where we’ve been.  That itinerary is constantly evolving based on incoming economic data and other events.  The biggest influences are still several weeks away.  We’re just watching fine-tuning adjustments in the meantime. 

Source: mortgagenewsdaily.com

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The number of homes sold dropped nearly 2 percent in January, compared to January 2023. Sale prices were still up.

Source: newscentermaine.com

Apache is functioning normally

Higher interest rates continued to depress mortgage applications last week. The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) said its Market Composite Index, a measure of application volume, decreased 10.6 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis during the week ended February 16. The volume declined 8.0 percent before adjustment.

The Refinance Index declined by 11.0 percent compared to the previous week but eked out a 0.1 percent gain from the level one year earlier. Refinance applications accounted for 32.6 percent of the total, down from 34.0 percent the previous week.  

The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index dropped 10 percent week-over-week and was down 6 percent before adjustment. Purchase applications lagged the same week in 2023 by 13.0 percent.  

“Mortgage rates moved back above 7 percent last week following news that inflation picked up in January, dimming hopes of a near-term rate cut,” said Mike Fratantoni, MBA’s SVP and Chief Economist.

“Mortgage applications dropped as a result with a larger decline in refinance applications. Potential homebuyers are quite sensitive to these rate changes, as affordability is strained with both higher rates and higher home values in this supply-constrained market.”

Other Highlights from MBA’s Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey

  • Loan sizes were changed only slightly, to an average of $381,800 for all submissions and $440,700 for purchase mortgages.
  • The FHA share of applications decreased to 13.2 percent from 13.5 percent and the VA share decreased to 12.1 percent from 13.3 percent. USDA applications accounted for 0.5 percent of the total.
  • The average contract interest rate for conforming 30-year fixed-rate mortgages (FRM) increased to 7.06 percent from 6.87 percent, with points inching up to 0.66 from 0.65.
  • Thirty-year FRM with jumbo loan balances had a rate of 7.16 percent with 0.45 point. The prior week the rate was 7.00 percent with 0.39 point.
  • The average rate for FHA-backed 30-year FRM jumped to 6.91 percent from 6.68 percent and points increased to 1.03 from 0.89.
  • Fifteen-year FRM saw an increase of 8 basis points to an average rate of 6.61 percent while points dropped to 0.77 from 0.94.
  • The average contract interest rate for 5/1 adjustable-rate mortgages (ARM) increased to 6.37 percent from 6.30 percent, with points increasing to 0.71 from 0.60.
  • The ARM share of activity increased from 7.0 to 7.4 percent of total applications.

Source: mortgagenewsdaily.com