Rewinding further, the 30-year average notched a high 7.37% last spring, so today's rates are significantly improved vs. 10 months ago. They're also almost 1.2 percentage points cheaper than the historic 23-year peak of 8.01% reached in October 2023.

If you look at the biggest industry forecasts, analysts predict that mortgage rates will either hold steady or drop slightly in the near term. Fannie Mae currently predicts that the average 30-year mortgage rate will end the first quarter at around 6.7%, while the Mortgage Bankers Association predicts a much higher 7%.

For his part, Lewis says mortgage rates are poised to drop in February, after climbing above 7% in January. “The direction of consumer prices will have the strongest effect on mortgage rates in February. The core inflation rate should decline further, giving bond yields and mortgage rates room to fall, but not by a lot,” says Lewis.

Wednesday, pushing the average to a two-week high. Rates moved higher for almost every other loan type as well.

Today, the mortgage interest rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage is 6.98%, according to the Mortgage Research Center, while the average rate on a 15-year mortgage is 6.05%. On a 30-year jumbo mortgage, the average rate is 7.