The average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage fell to 7.32% in the week ending Oct. 22, 2026, down from 7.40% the week before, according to Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey released Thursday. It was the first weekly decline since August, though rates remain more than a full percentage point higher than a year ago.
The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.68%, down from 6.71% the prior week, Freddie Mac said. A year earlier, the 30-year rate averaged 6.19% and the 15-year rate averaged 5.44%.
“The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage declined this week, offering some relief to prospective homebuyers,” Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist, said in the release.
The dip follows a steep climb through the summer and early fall. Freddie Mac’s weekly series, as compiled by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, shows the 30-year rate at 6.43% in the week of July 2 before rising in nearly every week to 7.40% by Oct. 8, where it held for two weeks. The last weekly decline before this one came in the week of Aug. 20, when the rate slipped to 6.65%.
The report lands less than a week before the Federal Reserve’s next policy meeting, scheduled for Oct. 27-28. At its last meeting on Sept. 15-16, the Federal Open Market Committee voted 12-0 to raise its benchmark federal funds rate by a quarter point to a range of 3.75% to 4%, saying in its statement that “inflation remains elevated.” The Fed does not set mortgage rates directly. Long-term mortgage rates generally track yields on longer-dated Treasury securities, which reflect investor expectations about inflation and future Fed policy.
Inflation has picked up in recent months. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Oct. 14 that the consumer price index rose 0.6% in September on a seasonally adjusted basis and 3.7% over the previous 12 months. Prices excluding food and energy rose 2.6% over the year. The energy index was up 20.4% from a year earlier, while the shelter index rose 3.2%.
Freddie Mac’s survey covers conventional, conforming, fully amortizing home purchase loans and assumes a borrower with excellent credit making a 20% down payment. Rates offered to individual borrowers vary with credit scores, down payments, loan size and lender. The survey is published every Thursday at noon Eastern time.
The full release, including historical data, is available from Freddie Mac at freddiemac.com/pmms. The Federal Reserve’s Sept. 16 statement is at federalreserve.gov, and the September consumer price index release is at bls.gov.