Mortgage Rates Today, Jan. 28, 2025: Fed Starts 2-Day Meeting Today
The average 30-year fixed rate mortgage is 6.91% today, a decrease of 0.05% since yesterday. The 15-year fixed mortgage rate stands at 5.98%, up by 0.01%. The 30-year FHA mortgage now averages 6.23%, having stayed the same. Meanwhile, the 30-year jumbo mortgage rate is 7.27%, reflecting an increase of 0.03%.
The bigger picture
Today, the Federal Reserve begins a two-day meeting of its rate-setting body, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC). And there's a very slim possibility of the committee announcing a quarter-point (25-basis-point) cut to general interest rates at 2 p.m. Eastern tomorrow afternoon.
Don't get excited. Last evening, the CME FedWatch tool put the chances of those rates holding steady at 96.8%. Still, there's a glimmer of hope, and a surprise cut could send mortgage rates lower.
The Fed event tomorrow that is more likely to rile markets is a news conference hosted by Fed Chair Jerome Powell, due 30 minutes after the rate announcement. Will he strike a positive or negative note about the chances of lower interest rates under the new administration?
AP reports on President Donald Trump's view: "[Last] Thursday during the World Economic Forum’s annual event in Davos, Switzerland, Trump said he would reduce oil prices, and then 'I’ll demand that interest rates drop immediately, and likewise, they should be dropping all over the world.' Later, in Washington, Trump told reporters that lower energy costs would reduce inflation, which would 'automatically bring the interest rates down.' Asked if he expects the Fed to listen to him on rates, Trump said: 'Yeah.'"
We'll have to wait to see how readily the Fed will bend to the president's will. But traditionally it jealously guards its independence.
And we'll be surprised if Powell suggests that more rate cuts than are currently penciled in are suddenly on the table — unless, of course, the FOMC truly believes the economy has moved sufficiently to justify such a move. You may need popcorn.
Mortgage Rate Trends: Past 90 Days
Purchase Rates
| Loan Type | Rate | APR | Daily Change | Monthly Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30-Year Fixed | 6.91% | 6.94% | -0.05% | -0.1% |
| 15-Year Fixed | 5.98% | 6.04% | +0.01% | -0.16% |
| 30-Year Fixed FHA | 6.23% | 7.06% | +-0% | -0.14% |
| 30-Year Fixed VA | 6.31% | 6.46% | +0.02% | -0.12% |
| 30-Year Fixed USDA | 6.19% | 6.33% | -0.01% | -0.06% |
| 30-Year Fixed Jumbo | 7.27% | 7.29% | +0.03% | -0.18% |
| 5/6 Year ARM | 7.02% | 7.08% | +0.23% | +0.04% |
Refinance Rates
| Loan Type | Rate | APR | Daily Change | Monthly Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30-Year Fixed | 7% | 7.04% | -0.02% | -0.08% |
| 15-Year Fixed | 5.97% | 6.02% | +0.01% | -0.16% |
| 30-Year Fixed FHA | 6.22% | 7.04% | +0% | -0.14% |
| 30-Year Fixed VA | 6.32% | 6.47% | +0.01% | -0.11% |
| 5/6 Year ARM | 6.8% | 6.83% | -0.03% | -0.17% |
Coming up
Although economic reports are 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.
We saw that in action yesterday. The Wall Street Journal summarized what happened: "Technology stocks tumbled Monday on news that China’s DeepSeek had trained a sophisticated artificial-intelligence model at a fraction of the cost of its Silicon Valley rivals, triggering a sudden reversal
of the recent AI rally."
What's bad for stocks is often good for bonds, and mortgage rates (which are tied to yields on a type of bond) nudged lower on the news.
Mortgage rates today and tomorrow
Today's economic reports are:
- December's durable goods orders — Expected to improve by +0.5% compared to November's contraction of -1.1%
- January's consumer confidence index — Expected to improve to 106.0 compared with 104.7 previously
As always, better-than-expected figures tend to push mortgage rates up while worse-than-expected ones usually drag them down. But today's reports rarely move those rates far or for long.
We've already covered tomorrow's big event: the Fed chair's news conference. That really could send mortgage rates soaring or tumbling.
