Refinance Rates for 30-Year Refinances are 2-Days Lower – April 16, 2025

After a week of soaring rates, 30-year refinances have been on a downward trend for the past two days. The flagship refi rate is now down to 7.15% after a further 8 basis points were shaved off Tuesday. This follows a similar drop on Monday. Friday's reading of 7.31%, meanwhile, was the most expensive level for 30-year refi rates since July 2024.

With the 30-year refi average falling as low as 6.71% in early March, today's rates are 44 basis points higher. Today's 30-year refi average is also about 1.1 percentage points more expensive than last September's two-year low of 6.01%.

Most other refi loan categories also dropped on Tuesday. The averages for 15-year, 20-year, and jumbo 30-year loans lost 9 and 7 basis point, respectively.

It is important to note that

The rates we publish won’t compare directly with teaser rates you see advertised online since those rates are cherry-picked as the most attractive vs. the averages you see here. Teaser rates may involve paying points in advance or may be based on a hypothetical borrower with an ultra-high credit score or for a smaller-than-typical loan. The rate that you will receive is based on your credit rating, income and other factors.

Since rates vary widely across lenders, it's always wise to shop around for your best mortgage refinance option and compare rates regularly, no matter the type of home loan you seek.

Calculate monthly payments using our Mortgage Calculator.

What causes mortgage rates rise or fall?

Mortgage rates are influenced by a complex combination of macroeconomic and industrial factors, including:

• The direction and level of the bond markets, particularly 10-year Treasury yields
• The Federal Reserve’s current policy on monetary policy. This includes bond purchases and government-backed mortgages.
• Mortgage lenders compete with each other for different loan types.

Because any number of these can cause fluctuations at the same time, it's generally difficult to attribute any single change to any one factor.

Macroeconomic forces kept the mortgage market at a relatively low level for most of 2021. The Federal Reserve bought billions of dollars’ worth of bonds to respond to the economic pressures caused by the pandemic. This bond-buying strategy is a major factor in determining mortgage rates.

Starting in November 2021 the Fed will begin to reduce its bond purchases, reducing them by a significant amount each month, until they reach zero in March.

The Fed raised the federal fund rate aggressively between then and July 2023 to combat inflation that has been high for decades. The fed funds can indirectly influence mortgage rates but not directly. In fact, mortgage rates and the fed funds interest rate can move in opposite ways.

But given the historic speed and magnitude of the Fed's 2022 and 2023 rate increases—raising the benchmark rate 5.25 percentage points over 16 months—even the indirect influence of the fed funds rate has resulted in a dramatic upward impact on mortgage rates over the last two years.

The Fed kept the federal funds rate at a peak level for nearly 14 months, starting in July 2023. In September, however, the central bank announced its first rate cut, which was 0.50 percentage points. This was followed by a quarter-point reduction in November and December.

For its second meeting of 2025, however, the Fed opted to hold rates steady—and it’s possible the central bank may not make another rate cut for months. The Fed released their quarterly rate forecast at their meeting on March 19, which showed that the central bankers’ median expectations for the remainder of the year were only two quarter-point rates cuts. In 2025, we may see several rate freezes announced. There are eight rate-setting sessions scheduled per year.

How We Track Mortgage Rates

The national and state averages cited above are provided as is via the Zillow Mortgage API, assuming a loan-to-value (LTV) ratio of 80% (i.e., a down payment of at least 20%) and an applicant credit score in the 680–739 range. The resulting rates are what borrowers will receive when they receive quotes from lenders, based on the qualifications of the borrower. These rates can differ from teaser rate advertisements. © Zillow, Inc., 2025. Zillow’s Terms of Service apply.

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1. Congressional Research Service "Federal Reserve: Tapering of Asset Purchases," Page 1.

2. Federal Reserve Board. “Summary Economic Projections for March 19, 2025,” page 4.