Today's mortgage rates for 30-year, 15-year, FHA, VA, jumbo, and ARM loans, with historical charts, daily commentary, market drivers, calculators, and rate education.
In this section
How Mortgage Rates Work — A plain-English explanation of how a mortgage rate is actually set, from the bond market down to the individual borrower's rate sheet adjustments.
APR vs Interest Rate — The difference between the note rate and the annual percentage rate, why FHA APRs look so much higher, and how to compare two offers without being misled.
What Controls Mortgage Rates — The economic inputs that actually drive mortgage pricing: inflation, employment, Treasury supply, Fed policy expectations, and mortgage-backed security demand
Understanding Mortgage-Backed Securities — How loans become bonds, what a UMBS coupon is, and why the spread between MBS and Treasuries is the number that decides whether rates fall.
Treasury Yield Explained — Why the 10-year Treasury is the mortgage industry's benchmark, how the yield curve works, and what an inversion signals for origination volume.
The Fed vs Mortgage Rates — What the Federal Reserve actually controls, what it does not, and how to explain the difference to a borrower who just read a headline about a rate cut.
Discount Points Explained — How buying down a rate with points actually works, how to run a break-even, and when paying points is the wrong recommendation.
Temporary Buydowns (2-1 and 3-2-1) — How seller-funded temporary buydowns work, how they are underwritten, and where they help a purchase deal that would otherwise fall apart on payment shock.
Permanent Rate Buydowns — Permanent buydowns compared to temporary ones, how to use seller concessions efficiently, and the math that decides which structure serves the borrower.
Rate Lock Strategy — A disciplined framework for lock versus float decisions, extension cost management, and float-down options that actually protect the borrower.
Historical Mortgage Rates — A century of context on where mortgage rates have been, why the 2020-21 lows were an anomaly, and how to use history in a client conversation.
Refinancing Guide — When a refinance makes sense, how to run a real break-even including the reset of amortization, and the cash-out and term-shortening cases that do not depend
Should I Lock My Rate Today? — A decision framework a borrower can actually follow, built around closing date, risk tolerance, and the economic calendar rather than a prediction.
Adjustable-Rate Mortgage Guide — How modern ARMs are structured after the shift to SOFR, what the caps actually protect, and which borrowers a 5/6 or 7/6 ARM genuinely serves.