Mortgage Rates Continue to drop, but hold onto 4-day drop – Apr. 30, 2025

Tuesday, the 30-year new purchase mortgage rate held steady after falling for four straight days. The average rate for 30-year new purchase mortgages is now 6.87%. Other mortgage rates have fallen.

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

Compare Current Mortgage Interest Rates Today – April 30, 2025

Today's New Purchase Mortgage Rate Averages

After a month of big ups and downs, including a drop over the past four day, 30-year mortgage rate averaged 6.87% on Tuesday. That's more than a quarter percentage point better than two weeks ago, when a week-long surge of 44 basis points pushed the average to 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%. That's about a percentage point cheaper than today's rates. Even so, the current average represents a 1.14 percentage point improvement compared to late 2023, when rates peaked at an historic 23-year high of 8.01%.

The average rate on 15-year mortgages dropped for the fifth day in a row, losing 2 basis points to 5.92%. That's now about 40 basis points cheaper than 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 1.16 percentage points below October 2023's historic 7.08% reading—a 23-year high.

Tuesday’s drop in jumbo 30-year mortgage interest rates was also part of a five-day trend. After subtracting another 5 basis points the average jumbo 30-year mortgage rate is now 6.81%. Comparing this to a reading of 7.15% about two weeks earlier, which was at 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

Every Thursday, Freddie Mac (a government-sponsored buyer for mortgage loans) publishes a weekly mortgage rate average. 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 your credit rating, income, etc., so it may vary from what you see.

What causes mortgage rates to rise or fall?

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

• The direction and level in which the bond market is moving, particularly with regard to 10-year Treasury rates
• The Federal Reserve’s current monetary policies, particularly as they relate to bond purchases and funding government-backed loans
• Competition between mortgage lenders across loan types

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 market at a relatively low level for most of 2021. In response to the economic pressures brought on by the pandemic, the Federal Reserve purchased billions in bonds. 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 combat the inflationary levels that have been in place for decades. The fed funds rate does not directly affect mortgage rates. The fed funds rate can actually move in the opposite direction to mortgage rates.

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 cut 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’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 Interest 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 are what borrowers can expect to receive from lenders when they get quotes based on their qualifications. These rates may differ from teaser rates advertised. © Zillow, Inc., 2025. Zillow’s Terms of Service apply.

Article Sources Investopedia requires that writers use primary sources in order to support their work. These include whitepapers, government data and original reporting as well as interviews with industry experts. Where appropriate, we also reference original research by other reputable publishers. Learn more about our standards for producing accurate and unbiased content by visiting our 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, 19 March 2025,” Page 4.