Editor's Note: Investopedia will not publish daily mortgage rate news on Monday, May 26, in observance of Memorial Day. We will return to our daily coverage on Tuesday, May 27.

Refinance rates for 30-year loans ticked up 2 basis points Thursday. The 30-year ꦉrefinance average is now up to 7.32%, which is its highest level since July 30, 2024.

Given that 30-year refi rates fell as low as 6.71% in early March, today's rates are notably elevated. The current average is also about 1.3 percentage points above last September's two-year low of 6.01%.

Rate🌌 movement was mixed for other refi loan types as well Thursday. The 15-year and 20-year refi averag✅es were flat, as were average jumbo 30-year refinance rates.

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 rates are dওetermined 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. While 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 oppoඣsite 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 for almost 14 months, beginning in July 2023. But in September, the central bank 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:announced a first rate cut of 0.ꦯ50 percentage points, and then followed that with quarter-point reductions in November and December.

For its third meeting of 2025, however, the Fed opted to 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:hold rates steady—and it’s possible the central bank may not make another rate cut for months. At their March 19 meeting, the Fed released its quarterly rate forecast, which showed that, at that time, the central bankers’ median expectation for the rest of the year was just two quarter-point rate cuts. With 🐭a total of eight rate-setting meetings scheduled per year, that means we could see mu♕ltiple rate-hold announcements in 2025.

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., 2025. Use is subject to the Zillow Terms of Use.