Real Estate/News
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.
By Daily Aletheia · Checked against the primary source · 8 October 2026 · 2 min read
Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey, published at noon Eastern on 8 October: "The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 7.40% as of October 8, 2026, up from last week when it averaged 7.28%. A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 6.30%. The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.73%, up from last week when it averaged 6.60%. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 5.53%."
The run. Freddie Mac's history file - the spreadsheet behind the page, one row a week since April 1971 - reads 6.65% on 20 August, 6.71% on 3 September, 6.95% on 17 September, 7.03% on 24 September, 7.28% on 1 October and 7.40% today: three-quarters of a point in seven weeks. The last week higher than today's was 16 November 2023, at 7.44%; the 2023 peak was 7.79% on 26 October 2023. Our 1 October item carried the 7.28%.
What the number is. The page: PMMS "results are based on the mortgage rate collected from thousands of loan applications submitted to Freddie Mac through Loan Product Advisor", and the weekly figures "are an average of loan rates offered the prior Thursday through Wednesday" - so 7.40% describes 1 to 7 October, not today's quotes. The page carries no economist's commentary this week beyond its standing line: "As market conditions continue to evolve, borrowers should remember that shopping around for a mortgage rate and getting multiple quotes can potentially save them thousands over the loan's lifetime." Freddie Mac's press-release site refuses our reader, so any quote in coverage from the release is unchecked here.