Average 30-year mortgage rate dips to 7.32%, Freddie Mac says, its first weekly decline since August

The average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was 7.32% as of Thursday, Oct. 22, 2026, down from 7.40% a week earlier, Freddie Mac said in its weekly Primary Mortgage Market Survey. A year earlier, the 30-year average was 6.19%.¹²

The average 15-year fixed rate was 6.68%, down from 6.71% the week before. It averaged 5.44% at the same point in 2025.¹²

Freddie Mac’s summary of the results said the 30-year average “declined this week, offering some relief to prospective homebuyers.”²

How this week fits the recent run

Freddie Mac’s weekly history file shows the 30-year average last fell in the week of Aug. 20, 2026, when it slipped to 6.65% from 6.67%. It then rose each week, from 6.66% on Aug. 27 to 7.40% on Oct. 8, and held at 7.40% on Oct. 15 before this week’s decline.³

• Sept. 3: 6.71% (30-year), 6.04% (15-year)
• Sept. 17: 6.95%, 6.26%
• Oct. 1: 7.28%, 6.60%
• Oct. 8: 7.40%, 6.73%
• Oct. 15: 7.40%, 6.71%
• Oct. 22: 7.32%, 6.68%³

The Associated Press, which described this week’s dip as the first since late August, reported that the 7.4% average was the highest in nearly three years. The AP also reported that the 10-year Treasury yield, a benchmark lenders follow when setting home loan rates, was at 5% at midday Thursday.⁴

What the survey measures

Freddie Mac says the survey is built from rates on thousands of loan applications that lenders submit through its Loan Product Advisor system. Freddie Mac describes the survey’s borrower profile as good or excellent credit, “20% loans” and home purchase loans on owner-occupied, one-unit single-family properties. The averages cover loan rates offered from the prior Thursday through Wednesday. Results are released Thursdays at noon Eastern time.²

Freddie Mac has operated under conservatorship by the Federal Housing Finance Agency since Sept. 6, 2008, when the agency’s director placed it and Fannie Mae under that arrangement, according to FHFA. The agency says that as conservator it holds the powers of the companies’ management, boards and shareholders, and the Treasury Department provides financial support through stock purchase agreements signed the next day.⁵

Home construction this week

In a separate release Tuesday, Oct. 20, the Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development estimated that privately owned housing starts in September 2026 ran at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,221,000. That is 5.2% below the revised August estimate of 1,288,000 and 7.4% below the September 2025 rate of 1,319,000; the agencies said neither change is statistically significant. Building permits were at a rate of 1,400,000, 0.2% below August and 3.0% below a year earlier. Completions were at a rate of 1,192,000, 14.0% below September 2025.⁶

What the records do not show

• Freddie Mac’s release reports averages for its survey profile; it does not show the rate any individual borrower would be offered, or rates for borrowers with lower credit scores or smaller down payments.²
• The release does not give a reason for this week’s decline. The Treasury yield figure and the three-year comparison are the AP’s reporting, not Freddie Mac’s.¹⁴
• The Census construction figures are preliminary; the agencies say such estimates of permits, starts and completions are revised on average by 3.8% or less. The October report is scheduled for Nov. 18, 2026.⁶