Mortgage rates now at their lowest level this year

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate has slipped to its lowest level in 2025 so far, Freddie Mac said Thursday, offering relief for hopeful homebuyers across the country.

The mortgage giant said that rate fell to 6.19% for the week ended October 23 compared with 6.27% the week before, potentially adding fuel to a refinancing surge that’s gathered pace in recent weeks.

That trend arrives with 10-year US Treasury bond yields, a key driver of mortgage rates, having dropped significantly over the past month amid wider uncertainty about the US economy amid a government shutdown and a high-profile auto lender bankruptcy.

“Mortgage rates continued to trend down this week, hitting their lowest level in over a year,” Sam Khater, Freddie’s chief economist, said in remarks accompanying its news release.

“At the start of 2025, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage surpassed 7%, while today it hovers nearly a full percentage point lower. This dynamic has kept refinancings high, accounting for more than half of all mortgage activity for the sixth consecutive week.”

The average 15-year fixed-rate mortgage slid to 5.44%, down from 5.52% the week before. But while those trends mean lower borrowing costs for American homebuyers, high home prices and other affordability challenges have kept a lid on national housing market activity.

Still, the picture is improving from the gloomy outlook of recent years. Existing-home sales increased slightly in September year over year, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) said in its latest report, boosted both by lower rates and higher inventory.

The median price of an existing home has now risen for 27 consecutive months, jumping by 2.1% to $415,200, with the West accounting for the biggest monthly increase in sales gains.

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