Mortgage rates: 7.40% in the week to Oct 15, 2026

In the week to October 15, 2026, the 30-year fixed mortgage rate averaged 7.40%, according to Freddie Mac.

The mortgage rates are Freddie Mac's weekly averages for fixed-rate home loans of each term, drawn from the loan applications lenders submit to it. A fixed rate holds for the life of the loan.

In the week to October 15, 2026, the 30-year rate was unchanged from 7.40% a week earlier, according to Freddie Mac.

The longer view

Compared with 6.27% in the week to October 16, 2025, the 30-year rate in the week to October 15, 2026 was 1.13 percentage points higher, according to Freddie Mac.

Freddie Mac put the average 15-year fixed rate at 6.71% for the week to October 15, 2026, 0.69 percentage points below the 30-year rate of 7.40%.

The monthly average

For September 2026 as a whole, the 30-year fixed rate averaged 6.86%, according to Freddie Mac.

What it costs

With 20% down on a home bought for $289,000, the typical home value of the median scored U.S. ZIP in August 2026, among 26,291 scored ZIPs, principal and interest on a fixed 30-year loan came to $1,601 a month at the average rate of 7.40% for the week to October 15, 2026, before taxes and insurance (based on Freddie Mac rates and Zillow ZIP-level data).

The payment is the monthly principal and interest on a home priced at the typical home value of the median scored U.S. ZIP code, the one with as many scored ZIPs valued above it as below it, with a fifth of the price paid at purchase and the rest borrowed over thirty years at the week's average fixed rate. It leaves out property taxes and insurance.

The same loan's payment was $174 a month higher in the week to October 15, 2026 than a year earlier, when the average rate of 6.27% in the week to October 16, 2025 put it at $1,427 (based on Freddie Mac rates and Zillow ZIP-level data).

The market backdrop

U.S. active listings stood at 1,161,615 in September 2026, according to Realtor.com.

Active listings count the homes for sale on Realtor.com during the month, leaving out listings already marked as pending sale. It counts homes on offer, not sales.

Compared with 1,102,006 in September 2025, U.S. active listings in September 2026 were up 5.4%, according to Realtor.com.

The median U.S. listing spent 61 days on the market in September 2026.

Days on market is the median number of days a Realtor.com listing spends on the market, from the day it is listed until it closes or is withdrawn.

In September 2026, 20.8% of U.S. listings had a price cut, according to Realtor.com.

The share of listings with a price cut is the part of Realtor.com's active listings where sellers cut the asking price at least once during the month.

On a scale from −100 (buyers) to +100 (sellers), the U.S. HavenScore balance was −2 in September 2026, in our Balanced band.

The HavenScore balance reads signals such as inventory, time on market and the share of listings with a price cut on one scale, from buyers at one end to sellers at the other. A reading below zero favors buyers, and one above zero favors sellers.

By region

Among the four Census regions, the highest average HavenScore balance in September 2026 was in the Northeast: +8 across its 5,053 scored ZIPs, weighted by population, in our Balanced band.

The regions are the four Census regions, which group the states and the District of Columbia as the Census Bureau defines them. Each region's figures cover the scored ZIP codes in its states.

Regional and U.S. figures in the table are averages across scored ZIP codes, weighted by population, so each ZIP counts in proportion to its residents. They are not national series, so the U.S. row can differ from a median or a national figure for the same month.

Among the four Census regions, the West and the South shared the lowest average HavenScore balance in September 2026: −27 each, across their 4,207 and 9,111 scored ZIPs, weighted by population, in our Leaning buyer band.

How to read these figures

Each figure here names its own week or month, since each source publishes on its own schedule. A figure describes that period, not the date this article was published.