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We are an independent, advertising-supported comparison service. Our goal is to help you make smarter financial decisions by providing you with interactive tools and financial calculators, publishing original and objective content, by enabling you to conduct research and compare information for free - so that you can make financial decisions with confidence.
Bankrate has partnerships with issuers including, but not limited to, American Express, Bank of America, Capital One, Chase, Citi and Discover. How We Make Money
The offers that appear on this site are from companies that compensate us. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site, including, for example, the order in which they may appear within the listing categories. But this compensation does not influence the information we publish, or the reviews that you see on this site. We do not include the universe of companies or financial offers that may be available to you. SHARE: Jupiterimages/The Image Bank/Getty Images October 13, 2021 Jeff Ostrowski covers mortgages and the housing market. Before joining Bankrate in 2020, he wrote about real estate and the economy for the Palm Beach Post and the South Florida Business Journal. Bankrate logo The Bankrate promise
At Bankrate we strive to help you make smarter financial decisions. While we adhere to strict editorial integrity, this post may contain references to products from our partners. Here's an explanation for how we make money. Bankrate logo The Bankrate promise
Founded in 1976, Bankrate has a long track record of helping people make smart financial choices. We’ve maintained this reputation for over four decades by demystifying the financial decision-making process and giving people confidence in which actions to take next. Bankrate follows a strict , so you can trust that we’re putting your interests first. All of our content is authored by and edited by , who ensure everything we publish is objective, accurate and trustworthy. Our mortgage reporters and editors focus on the points consumers care about most — the latest rates, the best lenders, navigating the homebuying process, refinancing your mortgage and more — so you can feel confident when you make decisions as a homebuyer and a homeowner. Bankrate logo Editorial integrity
Bankrate follows a strict , so you can trust that we’re putting your interests first. Our award-winning editors and reporters create honest and accurate content to help you make the right financial decisions. Key Principles
We value your trust. Our mission is to provide readers with accurate and unbiased information, and we have editorial standards in place to ensure that happens. Our editors and reporters thoroughly fact-check editorial content to ensure the information you’re reading is accurate. We maintain a firewall between our advertisers and our editorial team. Our editorial team does not receive direct compensation from our advertisers. Editorial Independence
Bankrate’s editorial team writes on behalf of YOU – the reader. Our goal is to give you the best advice to help you make smart personal finance decisions. We follow strict guidelines to ensure that our editorial content is not influenced by advertisers. Our editorial team receives no direct compensation from advertisers, and our content is thoroughly fact-checked to ensure accuracy. So, whether you’re reading an article or a review, you can trust that you’re getting credible and dependable information. Bankrate logo How we make money
You have money questions. Bankrate has answers. Our experts have been helping you master your money for over four decades. We continually strive to provide consumers with the expert advice and tools needed to succeed throughout life’s financial journey. Bankrate follows a strict , so you can trust that our content is honest and accurate. Our award-winning editors and reporters create honest and accurate content to help you make the right financial decisions. The content created by our editorial staff is objective, factual, and not influenced by our advertisers. We’re transparent about how we are able to bring quality content, competitive rates, and useful tools to you by explaining how we make money. Bankrate.com is an independent, advertising-supported publisher and comparison service. We are compensated in exchange for placement of sponsored products and, services, or by you clicking on certain links posted on our site. Therefore, this compensation may impact how, where and in what order products appear within listing categories. Other factors, such as our own proprietary website rules and whether a product is offered in your area or at your self-selected credit score range can also impact how and where products appear on this site. While we strive to provide a wide range offers, Bankrate does not include information about every financial or credit product or service. resumed rising this week, reminding homeowners of the urgency of refinancing. The average rate on 30-year mortgages rose to 3.21 percent from 3.13 percent last week, according to Bankrate’s weekly survey of large lenders. Mortgage experts expect rates to continue to move up from the all-time bottom achieved earlier this year. A year ago, the benchmark 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was 3.05 percent. Four weeks ago, the rate was 3.03 percent. The 30-year fixed-rate average for this week is 0.13 percentage point below the 52-week high of 3.34 percent, and 0.28 percentage points higher than the 52-week low of 2.93 percent. The 30-year fixed mortgages in this week’s survey had an average total of 0.3 discount and origination points. Over the past 52 weeks, the 30-year fixed has averaged 3.10 percent. The rose to 2.43 percent from 2.37 percent a week ago. The jumped to 3.69 percent from 3.2 percent (with the caveat that many lenders have shifted to the 5/6 ARM). The rose to 3.26 percent from 3.15 percent. Where mortgage rates are headed
Mortgage experts offer mixed predictions about the direction of rates in the next week. In Bankrate’s , 55 percent of respondents predict rates will stay the same in the coming week (Oct. 14-20), 36 percent say they’ll rise and 9 percent predict a decline. “Rates rates will inevitably trend higher in coming months,” says James Sahnger of C2 Financial Corp. in Jupiter, Florida. “If you haven’t refinanced, time to get busy doing so.” Refinances are still a pretty good deal at these rates
Rates are a cut above the record lows reached earlier this year, but refinancing remains a historically excellent deal. The rate on 10-year bonds issued by the U.S. government has stayed at 1.5 percent this week. The 10-year Treasury is closely tied to 30-year mortgage rates. Economists generally expect rates to rise by the end of 2021. As mortgage rates make a predicted slow climb to the 3.5 percent range by year’s end, decreased purchasing power might ease some of the pressure on home prices as marginal buyers are pushed out of the market, but competition will still be intense among those who can still afford to buy. Those looking to refinance should be able to find good deals for the rest of the year, though at rates at bit higher than the current level. The bottom line: If you see a rate that fits your needs and budget, . In fact, many homeowners with a mortgage haven’t taken advantage of the low rate environment. Among homeowners with a mortgage they’ve had since before the pandemic, 74 percent have not refinanced, . “The overwhelming majority of mortgage borrowers have not yet refinanced, despite record-low rates over the past year,” says Greg McBride, Bankrate’s chief financial analyst. “Cutting the monthly mortgage payment by $150 or $250, possibly more, can create valuable breathing room in the household budget at a time when so many other costs are on the rise.” You can do better than the average
The average national rates, however are just an average. You can do better by shopping around. The average rate for mortgages clicked on by Bankrate readers Tuesday was 2.62 percent, up from 2.47 percent the previous Tuesday. This “clicked-on” rate reflects purchase mortgages and refinances with all terms, including and . The rates may include discount points. The sweetest deals come with caveats. For instance, to score the best combination of rate and costs, you’ll generally need a credit score of 740 or higher and a down payment of 20 percent or more. And many of the lowest rates posted on Bankrate.com include , a way of buying down the rate by paying more at closing. Methodology
The Bankrate.com national survey of large lenders is conducted weekly. To conduct the National Average survey, Bankrate obtains rate information from the 10 largest banks and thrifts in 10 large U.S. markets. In the Bankrate.com national survey, our Market Analysis team gathers rates and/or yields on banking deposits, loans and mortgages. We’ve conducted this survey in the same manner for more than 30 years, and because it’s consistently done the way it is, it gives an accurate national apples-to-apples comparison. Our rates differ from other national surveys, in particular Freddie Mac’s weekly published rates. Each week Freddie Mac surveys lenders on the rates and points based on first-lien prime conventional conforming home purchase mortgages with a loan-to-value of 80 percent. “Lenders surveyed each week are a mix of lender types – thrifts, credit unions, commercial banks and mortgage lending companies – is roughly proportional to the level of mortgage business that each type commands nationwide,” according to Freddie Mac. SHARE: Jeff Ostrowski covers mortgages and the housing market. Before joining Bankrate in 2020, he wrote about real estate and the economy for the Palm Beach Post and the South Florida Business Journal. Related Articles