Home mortgage rates dropped this week to their lowest point in more than three years, though they continue hovering around the 6% mark where they’ve stayed throughout this year.
According to mortgage giant Freddie Mac’s Thursday report, the standard 30-year home loan rate decreased to 6.01% from the previous week’s 6.09%. This represents a significant drop from the 6.85% rate recorded one year ago.
This slight reduction marks the lowest mortgage rate since September 8, 2022, when it stood at 5.89% — the last time rates dipped below the 6% threshold.
The timing of this rate decrease could benefit the upcoming spring homebuying season, offering encouraging news for potential buyers who can manage purchases at these current rates.
Additionally, 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, which homeowners often choose when refinancing, also saw a decrease this week. These rates dropped to 5.35% from 5.44% the previous week, compared to 6.04% one year ago, according to Freddie Mac’s data.
Several elements affect mortgage rates, including Federal Reserve policy decisions and bond market investors’ economic and inflation forecasts. These rates typically mirror the movement of the 10-year Treasury yield, which lenders reference when setting home loan prices.
On Thursday at midday, the 10-year Treasury yield stood at 4.08%, slightly down from approximately 4.09% seven days earlier.
While mortgage rates have been declining for several months and contributed to increased home sales during the final four months of 2025, this improvement hasn’t been sufficient to revive the housing market from its downturn that began in 2022 when rates started rising from pandemic-era record lows.
Home sales for previously owned properties remained at 30-year low levels last year. Despite more favorable mortgage rates this year, home sales couldn’t maintain momentum last month, experiencing their largest monthly decline in nearly four years and the slowest annual sales rate in over two years.
