The average 30-year fixed rate mortgage is 6.16% today, an increase of 0.03% since yesterday. The 15-year fixed mortgage rate stands at 5.31%, up by 0.01%. The 30-year FHA mortgage now averages 5.61%, having risen by 0.06. Meanwhile, the 30-year jumbo mortgage rate is 6.38%, reflecting a decrease of 0.02%.
The bigger picture
If anything is likely to move mortgage rates this week, it's the release early this afternoon by the Federal Reserve of the minutes of the last meeting of its rate-setting body, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC). These minutes quite often do affect markets and those rates when investors spot previously unknown information within them.
However, there are reasons to think today's minutes will have only a limited impact. First, immediately after that last meeting, on Dec. 10, the Fed released the FOMC's summary of economic projections, including the dot plot. Those documents revealed in some detail the committee members' expectations of future rates, along with new divisions among those members. So, is there much more for investors to learn?
Secondly, the president is expected soon to appoint a new Fed chair to succeed Jerome Powell, who is due to retire in May. That could change the balance of power in the FOMC, rendering the committee's December positions somewhat irrelevant.
So, it's possible that the minutes, due at 2 p.m. Eastern, will have less influence than some previous editions have had.
Today's scheduled economic reports rarely budge mortgage rates. Scroll down to read more about those.👉Stay ahead of the market. Subscribe to the Mortgage Research Network Podcast.
Mortgage Rate Trends: Past 90 Days
Purchase Rates
| Loan Type | Rate | APR | Daily Change | Monthly Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30-Year Fixed | 6.16% | 6.19% | +0.03% | -0.04% |
| 15-Year Fixed | 5.31% | 5.35% | +0.01% | -0.01% |
| 30-Year Fixed FHA | 5.61% | 6.82% | +0.06% | +0.13% |
| 30-Year Fixed VA | 5.67% | 5.81% | +0.02% | +0.06% |
| 30-Year Fixed USDA | 5.58% | 5.72% | +0% | +0.08% |
| 30-Year Fixed Jumbo | 6.38% | 6.39% | -0.02% | -0.36% |
| 5/6 Year ARM | 6.07% | 6.1% | +0% | +0.06% |
Refinance Rates
| Loan Type | Rate | APR | Daily Change | Monthly Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30-Year Fixed | 6.21% | 6.24% | +0.04% | -0.03% |
| 15-Year Fixed | 5.3% | 5.34% | +0% | +0.01% |
| 30-Year Fixed FHA | 5.57% | 6.78% | +0.06% | +0.13% |
| 30-Year Fixed VA | 5.73% | 5.86% | +0.01% | +0.08% |
| 5/6 Year ARM | 6.02% | 6.05% | -0.01% | +0.02% |
What's coming up?
Although economic reports are usually the main drivers of changes to mortgage rates, they're not the only ones. The general mood in markets and economically consequential news can also affect those rates. News items concerning employment, inflation, tariffs and deficit funding are especially influential at the moment.
Mortgage rates today
There are two economic reports on today's MarketWatch economic calendar. It's rare for either of them to have a perceptible impact on mortgage rates, but for the sake of completeness, here they are:
- October's S&P Case-Shiller home price index (20 cities) — Markets expect growth to slow to 1.1%, down from 1.3% in September
- December's Chicago business barometer (a purchasing managers' index) — No forecast, but it stood at 36.3 in November
Typically, mortgage rates rise on news that is better than expected for the economy, and fall when that news is worse than expected. So, we'd like to see home price rises slow to a rate below 1.1%. However, even that is unlikely to affect those rates much.
