After plummeting Monday, 30-year mortgage refinance rates jumped up 28 basis points Wednesday, on top of a 2-basis-point rise the previous day. The average is now up to 6.31% vs. Monday's 6.01%—which was the cheapest level since February 2023.

Refinance rates moved higher for many other loan types as well Wednesday. The 15-year refi average also spiked by 28 basis points, while the 20-year refi average tacked on a less dramat♋ic 11 points. Refinancing🌱 rates on jumbo 30-year loans meanwhile fell, shedding 8 basis points.

Since rates vary widely across lenders, it's always wise to shop around for your best mortgage refinance option and compare rates regularly, no matter the type of home loan you seek.

Calculate monthly payments for different loan scenarios with our Mortgage Calculator.

What Causes Mortgage Rates to Rise or Fall?

Mortgage rate𒁃s are determined by a complex interaction of macroeconomic and industry factors, such as:

• The level and direction of the bond market, especially 10-year Treasury yields
• The 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Federal Reserve's current monetary policy, especially as it relates to bond buying and funding government-backed mortgages
• Competition between mortgage lenders and across loan types

Because any number of these can cause fluctuations at the same time, it's generally difficult to attribute any single change to any one factor.

Macroeconomic factors kept the mortgage market relatively low for much of 2021. In particular, the Federal Reserve had been buying billions of dollars of bonds in response to the pandemic's economic pressures. This 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:bond-buying policy is a major influencer of mortgage rates.

But starting in November 2021, the Fed began tapering its bond purchases downward, making sizable reductions each month until reaching net zero in March 2022.

Between that time and July 2023, the Fed aggressively raised the 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:federal funds rate to fight decades-high inflation. ꦬWhile the fed funds rate can influence mortgage rates, it doesn't directly do so. In fact, the fed funds rate and mortgage rates can move in opposite directions.

But given the historic speed and magnitude of the Fed's 2022 and 2023 rate increases—raising the benchmark rate 5.25 percentage points over 16 months—even the indirect influence of the fed funds rate has resulted in a dramatic upward impact on mortgage rates over the last two years.

The Fed maintained the federal funds rate at its peak level from July 2023 until this week, a span of almost 14 months. But yesterday, the central bank 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:announced the first rate cut in what's expected to be a series of decreases in♐ 2024 and likely 2025. Yesterday's reduction was by 0.50 percen🅘tage points.

The Fed's next rate-setting meeting will conclude Nov. 7.

How We Track Mortgage Rates

The national and state averages cited above are provided as is via the Zillow Mortgage API, assuming a 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:loan-to-value (LTV) ratio of 80% (i.e., a down payment of at least 20%) and an applicant credit score in the 680–739 range. The resulting rates represent what borrowers should expect when receiving quotes from lenders based on their qualifications, which may vary from advertised teaser rates. © Zillow, Inc., 2024. Use is subjᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚect to the Zillow Terms of Use.