Average 30-year mortgage rate eases to 7.24%, Freddie Mac says, a second straight weekly decline

The average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was 7.24% as of Thursday, Oct. 29, 2026, down from 7.32% a week earlier, Freddie Mac said in its weekly Primary Mortgage Market Survey release. A year earlier, the 30-year average was 6.17%.¹²

The average 15-year fixed rate was 6.60%, down from 6.68% the week before. At the same point in 2025 it averaged 5.41%.¹²

Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist, said in the release that the 30-year average “declined again this week, reaching its lowest level this month.” He said the decline modestly boosts purchasing power for people looking to buy.¹

How this week fits the recent run

Freddie Mac’s weekly history file shows the 30-year average rose each week from late August to 7.40% on Oct. 8 and held there on Oct. 15. It has fallen in each of the two weeks since. This week’s 7.24% is the lowest weekly reading since Sept. 24, when the average was 7.03%.²

• Sept. 24: 7.03% (30-year), 6.42% (15-year)
• Oct. 1: 7.28%, 6.60%
• Oct. 8: 7.40%, 6.73%
• Oct. 15: 7.40%, 6.71%
• Oct. 22: 7.32%, 6.68%
• Oct. 29: 7.24%, 6.60%²

The 15-year average is back to the 6.60% it posted on Oct. 1, the history file shows.²

The Associated Press reported that the 10-year Treasury yield, a benchmark lenders look to when setting home loan rates, was 4.98% at midday Thursday. The AP reported that the yield had topped 5.30% earlier in October, its highest level since 2002, and that the 30-year mortgage average had briefly dipped to 5.98% in late February, its lowest since late 2022.³

What the survey measures

Freddie Mac says the survey averages rates on conventional, conforming, fully amortizing home purchase loans for borrowers who put 20% down and have excellent credit.¹ The rates come from loan applications submitted to Freddie Mac during a week that runs from Thursday through Wednesday, and the results are published each Thursday at noon Eastern, according to Freddie Mac's survey page.⁴

Last week, Freddie Mac’s survey showed the first weekly decline in the 30-year average since August, a drop to 7.32% from 7.40%.²

What the records do not show

• The survey reports averages for one borrower 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.¹
• Freddie Mac’s release does not give a reason for this week’s decline. The Treasury yield figures and the February comparison are the AP’s reporting, not Freddie Mac’s.¹³
• Freddie Mac’s release on GlobeNewswire blocked direct download; its text was checked against a verbatim syndicated copy, and its figures against Freddie Mac’s weekly history file, which matched.² Freddie Mac’s rates page still showed the Oct. 22 figures when checked about 5 p.m. Eastern on Thursday.⁴