Truth Check/8 October 2026
“Mortgage rates hit a new three-year high”
The claim as it travelled: Realtor.com, 8 Oct 2026.
The claim holds against the page that produced it.
Freddie Mac's history file shows the last higher 30-year reading at 7.44% in the week of 16 November 2023, two years and eleven months ago - a rounding to three years, not an overstatement.
- Checked Against
- freddiemac.com ↗Primary
- Read the Check
- US 30-year mortgage rate rises again to 7.40%, Freddie Mac says - 1.10 points above a year ago and the highest since the week of 16 November 2023, when its own history file reads 7.44%
The page: up from 7.28% last week; the 15-year at 6.73% from 6.60%, against 5.53% a year ago. Freddie Mac's weekly file since 1971 puts the last higher reading at 7.44% on 16 November 2023 and the 2023 peak at 7.79% - so the three-year high in coverage is two years and eleven months. The figure averages applications from the prior Thursday to Wednesday.
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