Mortgage Rate History: 1970s To 2026 - Bankrate
By Google News Personal Finance ·
The residential mortgage as we know it today is less than a century old. In fact, until the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) was established in 1934, only one in 10 Americans owned a home. That all changed with the introduction of the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage during the Great Depression, which made homeownership possible for millions.
Recent changes in mortgage rates have put a strain on the housing market. Historically low rates at the start of the 2020s led to a surge in home prices, and rates have stayed consistently between 6% and 7% since the Federal Reserve raised rates in 2022. However, home prices remain high. This combination of climbing prices with higher-than-recent rates has made housing affordability a major problem.
Here is a timeline of the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate by year. Bankrate first began aggregating rate data in 1982; all data prior was sourced from Freddie Mac. The 2026 average is through November 4.
As of November 4, 2026, the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate is 7.26%, per Bankrate’s lender survey. Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey, a separate weekly benchmark based on conforming purchase loans with 20% down and strong credit, put the 30-year fixed average at 7.18% as of November 5, 2026 — down slightly from the week before and up from 6.27% a year earlier.
Rates fell through most of the first two months of 2026, bottoming at a 2026 low of 6.01% on Feb. 19 — the lowest weekly average since September 2022. They’ve climbed back into the mid-6% range since, as persistent inflation and Treasury yields have kept upward pressure on mortgage pricing.
In 2025, the typical borrower overpaid by $278 a month — $3,343 a year — simply by not comparing enough lenders, according to Bankrate’s Hidden Homeownership Tax…
Originally published by Google News Personal Finance
