Rate tracker

What the survey is

Freddie Mac surveys lender applications each week and publishes national averages for conventional, conforming, fully amortizing purchase loans for borrowers with strong credit and substantial down payments. It is the cleanest public benchmark for where the market sits, which is why it is the only rate series this site tracks. New results are released on Thursdays; this page is updated from the official release, never from rate advertisements.

The two averages answer different questions. The 30-year fixed average is the headline most refinance advertising leans on. The 15-year fixed average matters when you price a shorter term that matches the years left on your current loan. On the release tracked here, the gap between them is 0.68 percentage points. That gap is part of why a term-matched quote can cut lifetime interest sharply even when its payment saving looks smaller than a fresh 30-year quote.

How to use this page in five minutes

1. Note the survey average and its release date. Treat anything older or undated as advertising, not context.
2. Get your own quote in writing, with a Loan Estimate that separates lender charges, third-party fees, and prepaids. Your quote, not the average, goes into any decision.
3. Compare your quote against the average only to judge whether shopping further is worthwhile. A quote well above the average on a strong-credit, conforming loan is a reason to collect another estimate, not a verdict on its own.
4. Put your balance, your quote, your closing costs, and your stay horizon into the calculator. Break-even inside a stay you can defend is the test that decides.
5. If the payment saving looks large, check the term. Price the same rate on the years you have left before celebrating a fresh 30-year payment.

What the average cannot tell you

• Your rate. Credit profile, equity, loan type, property, and points move individual quotes well above and below the average.
• Where rates are going. The survey is a snapshot, not a forecast, and this site does not publish rate predictions.
• Whether you should refinance. A market average says nothing about your closing costs, your remaining term, or your stay horizon. The calculator works on your numbers.

A year earlier the 30-year average was 6.34%, so the release tracked here sits 0.94 percentage points higher than that year-ago figure. That comparison explains why refinance stories from a year ago do not price today's quotes. It does not tell you whether waiting would help. Waiting is a bet on a future release nobody can quote you today, while closing costs and your stay horizon are facts you can price now. The rate-drop scenarios show how drops of different sizes behave on one stated $400,000 example with $6,000 of closing costs and a seven-year stay, which is a more useful way to think about a future quote than guessing at one.

From the survey to your decision

Use the survey as a smell test, then leave it behind. If lenders quote you near or below the survey average for your loan profile, the rate part of the deal is probably competitive and the decision turns on fees and term. If quotes cluster well above it, shop before you negotiate points or credits. Either way, the refinance only wins when payment savings repay true closing costs before your earliest realistic move, and when lifetime interest on the new term does not quietly give the saving back. Those are the two tests every guide on this site returns to: break-even explained for the first, and the term restart warning in the calculator for the second.