The average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage in the United States averaged 7.32 percent as of October 22, 2026, down from 7.40 percent last week, Freddie Mac said on Thursday in its Primary Mortgage Market Survey. A year ago at this time, the 30-year rate averaged 6.19 percent.

Source: Freddie Mac PMMS release via Morningstar / GlobeNewswire

"The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage declined this week, offering some relief to prospective homebuyers," said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac's chief economist, in the release. The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.68 percent, down from 6.71 percent last week; a year ago it averaged 5.44 percent, Freddie Mac said.

Source: Freddie Mac PMMS release via Morningstar / GlobeNewswire

7.32%Average 30-year fixed mortgage rate, week ending Oct. 22
7.40%The rate a week earlier
6.19%The rate a year ago
6.68%Average 15-year fixed rate this week

The Associated Press reported that the move marks the first weekly decline since late August, after a climb that had pushed the 30-year rate to its highest level in nearly three years. The AP said mortgage rates have risen since late February, when the U.S. war with Iran began, as the conflict pushed up oil prices and inflation and bond-market volatility lifted Treasury yields; the 10-year Treasury yield stood at about 5 percent at midday Thursday, after topping 5.30 percent earlier in October, the AP reported.

Source: Associated Press via Maison Pawli

Realtor.com, reporting the same Freddie Mac release, noted the decline follows weeks of gains that sent mortgage rates to three-year highs, and cited U.S. Census Bureau data released Tuesday showing housing starts plunged 5.2 percent in September from the month before and 7.4 percent from a year earlier. "Mortgage rates edging down is welcome news, but we should not get carried away, as today's modest decline does not put much of a dent in this fall's surge that saw rates climb 74 basis points in just over a month," Realtor.com senior economist Jake Krimmel said.

Source: Realtor.com

Freddie Mac said its survey covers conventional, conforming, fully amortizing home purchase loans for borrowers who put 20 percent down and have excellent credit — so the rate an individual borrower is quoted can differ. For Punjabi and other diaspora families in the United States who delayed buying this fall, the dip lowers borrowing costs only slightly; at 7.32 percent, rates remain more than a full percentage point above where they stood a year ago.

Source: Freddie Mac PMMS release via Morningstar / GlobeNewswire

What is solid

  • The 30-year fixed rate averaged 7.32% for the week ending Oct. 22, down from 7.40% a week earlier and up from 6.19% a year ago, and the 15-year rate averaged 6.68%, per Freddie Mac's Oct. 22 PMMS release.
  • Freddie Mac chief economist Sam Khater described the decline as offering some relief to prospective homebuyers, in the company's release.

What is only claimed

  • Reports differ slightly on the exact length of the preceding climb — the AP called it the first decline since late August, while Realtor.com described seven consecutive weeks of gains; what is agreed is that this is the first weekly fall in about two months, and a single week's dip does not establish a downward trend.