The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate slipped this week to its lowest level in more than three years, but remains around 6% in the same narrow range it has been in this year.
The benchmark 30-year fixed rate mortgage rate fell to 6.01% from 6.09% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. One year ago, the rate averaged 6.85%.
The modest pullback brings the average rate to its lowest level since Sept. 8, 2022, when it was 5.89%. That was the last time the average rate was below 6%.
Mortgage rates are influenced by several factors, from the Federal Reserve’s interest rate policy decisions to bond market investors’ expectations for the economy and inflation. They generally follow the trajectory of the 10-year Treasury yield, which lenders use as a guide to pricing home loans.
The 10-year Treasury yield was at 4.08% at midday Thursday, down from around 4.09% a week ago.
Mortgage rates have been trending lower for months, helping drive a pickup in home sales the last four months of 2025, but not enough to lift the housing market out of its slump dating back to 2022, when mortgage rates began to climb from pandemic-era lows.
Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes remained stuck last year at 30-year lows. And more buyer-friendly mortgage rates this year weren’t enough to lift home sales last month. They posted the biggest monthly drop in nearly four years and the slowest annualized sales pace in more than two years.
Meanwhile, new data on contract signings suggest home sales could remain sluggish in the near term.
A seasonally adjusted index of pending U.S. home sales fell 0.8% in January from the previous month, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday. Pending home sales fell 0.4% from January last year.
There’s usually a month or two lag between a contract signing and when the sale is finalized, which makes pending home sales a bellwether for future completed home sales.
“Improving affordability conditions have yet to induce more buying activity,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist.
A sharp run-up in home prices, especially in the early years of this decade, and a chronic shortage of homes nationally worsened by years of below-average home construction have left many aspiring homeowners priced out of the market.
That’s put the focus on mortgage rates, which can boost home shoppers’ purchasing power when they come down, but also reduce how much homebuyers can afford when rates rise.
That makes the recent decline in rates a favorable lead in to the annual spring home-buying season — at least for home shoppers who can afford to buy at current rates.
