Mortgage Rates Continue to Drop for the Third Day in A Row – April 28, 2025

Mortgage rates have been riding a roller coaster in April, and the latest swing is a three-day decline—dropping the Friday average to 6.92%. Other mortgage types also ended lower this week.

No matter what type of home loan or mortgage you are looking for, it is wise to shop around and compare rates regularly to find the best rate.

Compare Current Mortgage Interest Rates – April 28, 2020

Today's New Purchase Mortgage Rate Averages

After rising and falling earlier in the month, and then again falling and rising, 30-year purchase mortgage rates are now on the decline. The flagship average dropped another 7 points on Friday. It has now dropped 15 points within the last 3 days.

The week before last, the flagship average had surged by a dramatic 44 basis points, peaking on April 11 at 7.14%—its most expensive reading since May 2024.

But back in September, 30-year rates saw a historic plunge—sinking to a two-year low of 5.89%. The current average is approximately a percentage point higher. Still, today's rates are nearly 1.1 percentage points better than in late 2023, when rates catapulted to a historic 23-year peak of 8.01%.

Rates for 15-year loans also fell, dropping 9 basis points Friday to a lower average of 6.00%. That's an improvement vs. the April 11 average of 6.31%, which was the highest reading in almost a year. The 15-year rate average, like the 30-year rate, fell to its lowest level in two years, a plummeting 4.97%, last September. Though today's 15-year average is elevated, it's almost 1.1 percentage points cheaper than October 2023's historic 7.08% reading—a 23-year high.

The average rate for jumbo 30-year mortgages dropped by 13 basis points on Friday to 6.91%. It’s a dramatic drop from the 7.15% rate that was recorded about two week ago, a 10 month high. Last fall, jumbo 30-year rates sank to 6.24%, their cheapest level in 19 months, while it's estimated their 8.14% peak in October 2023 was the most expensive jumbo 30-year average in over 20 years.

The Weekly Freddie Mac Average

Freddie Mac, a government sponsored buyer of mortgages, publishes a 30-year average mortgage rate every Thursday. Last week's reading dipped 2 basis points to 6.81%. In September last year, the average fell as low as 6.08%. But back in October 2023, Freddie Mac's average saw a historic rise, surging to a 23-year peak of 7.79%.

Freddie Mac's average differs from what we report for 30-year rates because Freddie Mac calculates a weekly average that blends five previous days of rates. Investopedia’s 30-year average, on the other hand, is a daily reading that provides a more accurate and timely indication of rate movements. In addition, the criteria for included loans (e.g., amount of down payment, credit score, inclusion of discount points) varies between Freddie Mac's methodology and our own.

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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 a variety of factors, including your credit score and income.

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 monetary policies, particularly as they relate to bond buying and government-backed loans
• Mortgage lenders are competing with each other to offer different types of loans.

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

Macroeconomic forces kept the mortgage markets relatively low throughout 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.

The Fed will begin to taper its bond purchases in November 2021. Each month, it will make significant reductions until the net is zero in March 2022.

Fed aggressively increased the federal funds rate between July 2023 and then to fight the inflation which has been on the rise for decades. While the fed fund rate can affect mortgage rates, it does not do so 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, the Fed announced a rate cut of 0.50 percent, followed by quarter-point cuts in November and Decembre.

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’s quarterly rate forecast was released at its March 19 meeting. It showed that central bankers had a median expectation of two quarter-point cuts for the rest the year. In 2025, we may see multiple rate holds 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 rates that result 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. The Zillow Terms and Conditions of Use apply.

Article Sources Investopedia asks writers to use primary resources to support their writing. White papers, government statistics, original reporting and interviews with industry professionals are all examples. Where appropriate, we also reference original research by other reputable publishers. Our website contains more information about the standards that we use to produce accurate, unbiased content. Editorial policy

1. Freddie Mac. “Mortgage Rates."

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

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