Mortgage rates have dropped to their lowest point since 2022, offering a welcome shift for homebuyers and homeowners after years of elevated borrowing costs. The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate has now fallen to 6.06%, marking a notable decline from the 7%-plus levels that dominated much of 2024 and early 2025.
According to data from Freddie Mac, this marks the lowest reading in more than three years. The 15-year fixed rate has also eased, giving borrowers additional flexibility as affordability pressures begin to soften, even if modestly.
The decline reflects a broader cooling in financial markets, driven by easing inflation trends and expectations that interest rates may remain stable or trend lower in the months ahead. Mortgage rates typically track long-term Treasury yields, which have fallen as investors grow more confident that the most aggressive phase of rate tightening is behind us.
Early signs suggest buyers are responding. Mortgage application activity has picked up, and some real estate agents report renewed interest from buyers who had been sidelined by higher monthly payments. Refinancing interest is also beginning to return, particularly among homeowners who purchased or refinanced near recent rate peaks.
Still, today’s rates remain well above the historic lows seen earlier in the decade, and housing affordability remains strained by elevated home prices and limited inventory. Whether this rate drop marks the beginning of a sustained trend or a temporary pause will depend on economic conditions in the months ahead — but for now, borrowers are getting their first real taste of relief since 2022.
