Mortgage rates continue quick retreat

Current mortgage rates

The 30-year fixed mortgages in this week’s survey had an average total of 0.35 discount and origination points. Discount points are a way to lower your mortgage rate, while origination points are fees lenders charge to create, review and process your loan.

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Monthly mortgage payment at today’s rates

The national median family income for 2026 is $106,800, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the median price of an existing home sold in September 2026 was $417,500, according to the National Association of Realtors. Based on a 20% down payment and a 7.26% mortgage rate, the monthly principal and interest payment of $2,281 amounts to about 26% of the typical family’s monthly income.

Meanwhile, home prices are still rising — the National Association of Realtors reports the median home price was up 1.3% over the past year, and the median of $417,500 was an all-time high for the month of September. However, values have begun to dip in many formerly hot markets. Still, signs are mixed. The S&P Cotality Case-Shiller index released in late October showed national home prices grew 2.1% in the year ending in August, marking an acceleration.

What will happen to mortgage rates in the rest of 2026?

Inflation rose to 3.7% in September, although the Fed’s preferred measure, the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) index, was 3.0% for September. Oil prices have spiked amid the conflict in Iran, pushing inflation up and lifting mortgage rates from their 2026 low of 6.09%. Rising inflation has been the main driver of higher mortgage rates — the consumer price index has pushed well above the Fed’s 2% target, although 10-year Treasury yields have fallen below 5%, down from 5.3% last month.

Tuesday’s midterm results also could affect mortgage rates. “The results of the recent U.S. elections should create gridlock and constrain additional federal spending, which could help reduce pressure on Treasury yields,” says Sean Salter, a finance professor at Middle Tennessee State University. “However, persistent inflation and the possibility of further Federal Reserve tightening will likely limit any significant decline.”

Housing economists no longer expect mortgage rates to fall below 6% in the near future, and even a return below 7% seems a stretch. That reality that’s affecting home sales. Higher mortgage rates, still-record home prices and persistent inflation are likely to put the brakes on home sales. Instead, rates have risen sharply, a situation only exacerbated by the Fed’s Sept. 16 rate hike.

• Methodology

  The Bankrate.com national survey of large lenders is conducted weekly. To conduct the National Average survey, Bankrate obtains rate information from the 10 largest banks and thrifts in 10 large U.S. markets. In the Bankrate.com national survey, our Market Analysis team gathers rates and/or yields on banking deposits, loans and mortgages. We’ve conducted this survey in the same manner for more than 30 years, and because it’s consistently done the way it is, it gives an accurate national apples-to-apples comparison. Our rates differ from other national surveys, in particular Freddie Mac’s weekly published rates. Each week Freddie Mac surveys lenders on the rates and points based on first-lien prime conventional conforming home purchase mortgages with a loan-to-value of 80%. “Lenders surveyed each week are a mix of lender types — thrifts, credit unions, commercial banks and mortgage lending companies — is roughly proportional to the level of mortgage business that each type commands nationwide,” according to Freddie Mac.