30-year mortgage rate slips to 7.32%, still 1.13 percentage points above a year ago

The average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage in the United States fell to 7.32% in the week ended October 22 from 7.40% the week before, the first weekly decline since mid-August, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey.

What happened

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 7.32%, Freddie Mac said, "down from last week when it averaged 7.40%. A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 6.19%." The rate is 1.13 percentage points higher than a year earlier (computed).

The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.68%, down from 6.71% a week earlier and up from 5.44% a year earlier, a difference of 1.24 percentage points (computed).

The survey is released on Thursdays at noon ET and averages rates offered from the previous Thursday through Wednesday, according to Freddie Mac.

The background

Mortgage rates have risen in the past two months. Freddie Mac's historical series shows the 30-year rate at 6.65% in the week of August 20, and at 6.76% on September 10. It then climbed to 6.95% on September 17, 7.03% on September 24, 7.28% on October 1, and 7.40% on both October 8 and October 15 (computed from the series).

Those two readings of 7.40% were the highest since the week of November 16, 2023, when the average was 7.44%. This year's low was 5.98%, in the week of February 26. The latest reading is 1.34 percentage points above that low (computed).

For comparison, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note closed at 4.96% on Thursday, down from 5.13% a day earlier and from a 2026 closing high of 5.31% on October 5, according to Treasury Department data.

Homebuilders

NVR (NYSE: NVR), one of the largest US homebuilders, reported on Thursday that third-quarter net income fell 27% to $248.6 million, and revenue fell to $2.40 billion from $2.61 billion a year earlier, according to its earnings release.

New orders fell 7% to 4,391 units from 4,735. The average sales price of new orders was $442,100, down 5%. The cancellation rate was 21%, compared with 19% in the third quarter of 2025.

Gross profit margin fell to 18.3% from 21.0%. NVR said the margin "was negatively impacted by higher lot costs, pricing pressure due to continued affordability challenges and weak consumer sentiment, and by contract land deposit impairments totaling approximately $24.8 million." Its backlog of homes sold but not yet settled rose 10% in units to 10,121.

What to watch

Freddie Mac publishes the survey weekly on Thursdays, with the next release due on October 29. The Federal Reserve's policy committee meets on October 27-28, according to its calendar.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the shelter index of consumer prices rose 0.4% in September and was 3.2% higher than a year earlier, according to its consumer price index report. The next report is scheduled for November 10 at 8:30 a.m. ET.