Housing News

Mortgage Rates Remain Near 14-Month Low to Start 2026

The good news has continued for mortgage interest rates. Last week, interest rates hit a 14-month low. This week, they barely budged.

Mortgage rates averaged 6.16% for a 30-year, fixed-rate loan in the week ending Jan. 8, according to Freddie Mac. That’s up just one basis point from where they were one week ago, when rates fell to 6.15%.

That marked the lowest point that rates have been in more than a year. Rates also remain well below where they were at this point last year. During this same week in 2025, rates averaged 6.93%.

“In the first full week of the new year, mortgage rates remained within a narrow range, hovering close to the 6% mark,” said Freddie Mac’s Chief Economist Sam Khater in a statement. “The combination of solid economic growth and lower rates has led to improving momentum in for-sale residential demand.”

As Khater noted, there are more people trying to buy a home right now than there were in the first week of 2025. Purchase mortgage applications were 10% higher than they were in the same week a year ago, according to the latest data from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA).

These lower rates are also driving more homeowners to refinance their existing mortgages. Refinance applications are up a whopping 108% from the first week of 2025.

“MBA continues to expect mortgage rates to stay around current levels, with spells of refinance opportunities in the weeks when rates move lower,” said MBA’s Deputy Chief Economist Joel Kan in a statement.

Lower mortgage rates may help increase a buyer’s purchasing power, allowing them to get more home for their money or the same home with lower monthly housing payments. It may also help put homeownership within reach for prospective buyers who were previously priced out of the market.

Existing homeowners may be able to refinance their loans to lock in lower monthly payments, helping them to save money.