Mortgage Rates Grow on Friday | Today, January 23, 2026

Today’s mortgage rates

Mortgage rates rose to finish the week but remain nearly 80 basis points lower* than this time last year.

Today’s market data brings hope for the weekend home buyer, with downward pressure on interest rates in the short-term.

With rates sitting near three year lows, see if it makes sense to refinance or tap into your home equity. For hopeful home buyers, see what advice experts have for 2026 and if you qualify for financial assistance programs or more lenient loan types.

*According to Freddie Mac's weekly averages

Current mortgage and refinance rates

>Related: 7 Tips to get the best refinance rate

30-year fixed rate mortgage

At the time this was published, the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate reached 6.20%.

The average 30-year fixed rate mortgage (FRM) hit a record weekly low of 2.65% on Jan. 7, 2021, and a record weekly high of 8.89% on Dec. 16, 1994, according to Freddie Mac.

A 30-year FRM gives borrowers an affordable option but you pay more interest over the life of the loan compared to shorter mortgages.

15-year fixed rate mortgage

Today, the average 15-year fixed mortgage rate went to 5.55%.

The average 15-year FRM hit a record weekly low of 2.1% on July 29, 2021, and a record weekly high of 18.63% on Sep. 10, 1981, according to Freddie Mac.

The 15-year FRM offers borrowers a briefer term with less accrued interest, but the monthly payments will be much higher.

5/1 adjustable-rate mortgage

This morning’s 5/1 adjustable rate mortgage averaged 5.50%.

Adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) typically have lower initial interest rates compared to fixed loans. Once that initial period ends, the interest rate adjusts to the current market conditions. In this case, the initial period is five years and the adjustments are up to once every year. Homeowners with shorter term lending plans tend to see these as advantageous.

What experts are expecting

Danielle Hale, chief economist at Realtor.com

“For homebuyers and sellers, roughly stable mortgage rates enable budget planning that has been challenging to do in the last few years when rates have shifted more substantially in short periods of time.”

Market data affecting today’s mortgage rates

Here’s a snapshot of the state of play as this article was published. The data mostly compares to roughly the same time the business day before, so much of the movement will often have happened in the previous session. The numbers are:

• The yield on 10-year Treasury notes decreased to 4.248% from 4.261%. (Good for mortgage rates.) More than any other market, mortgage rates typically tend to follow these particular Treasury bond yields
• Major stock indexes regressed overall this morning. (Good for mortgage rates.) When investors buy shares, they often sell bonds, pushing those prices down and increasing yields and mortgage rates. The opposite may happen when indexes are lower. But this is an imperfect relationship
• Oil prices increased to $60.98 from $59.40 a barrel. (Bad for mortgage rates*.) Energy prices play a prominent role in creating inflation and also point to future economic activity
• Gold prices increased to $4,947 from $4,822 an ounce. (Good for mortgage rates*.) It is generally better for rates when gold prices rise and worse when they fall. Because gold tends to rise when investors worry about the economy.
• CNN Business Fear & Greed Index increased to 54 from 51 out of 100. (Bad for mortgage rates.) “Greedy” investors push bond prices down (and interest rates up) as they leave the bond market and move into stocks, while “fearful” investors do the opposite. So, lower readings are often better than higher ones

*A movement of less than $20 on gold prices or 40 cents on oil prices is a change of 1% or less. So we only count meaningful differences as good or bad for mortgage rates.

Caveats about markets and rates

Before the pandemic, post-pandemic upheavals, and war in Ukraine, you could look at the above figures and make a pretty good guess about what would happen to mortgage rates that day. But that’s no longer the case. We still make daily calls. And are usually right. But our record for accuracy won’t achieve its former high levels until things settle down.

So, use markets only as a rough guide. Because they have to be exceptionally strong or weak for us to rely on them. But, with that caveat, mortgage rates today might nudge upward or barely budge. However, be aware that “intraday swings” (when rates change speed or direction during the day) are a common feature right now.

What’s driving mortgage rates today?

This week

Two economic reports come out today, while the Federal Reserve will be in its quiet period ahead of the upcoming rate cut meeting.

S&P released its flash Purchasing Managers’ Index for January. So far, the services sector held steady from December at a score of 52.5, while the manufacturing sector inched up to 51.9 from 51.8.

“The survey is signaling annualized GDP growth of 1.5% for both December and January, and a worryingly subdued rate of new business growth across both manufacturing and services adds further to signs that first quarter growth could disappoint,” said Chris Williamson, chief business economist at S&P.

“Jobs growth is meanwhile already disappointing, with near stagnant payroll numbers reported again in January, as businesses worry about taking on more staff in an environment of uncertainty, weak demand and high costs. Increased costs, widely blamed on tariffs, are again cited as a key driver of higher prices for both goods and services in January, meaning inflation and affordability remains a widespread concern among businesses.”

The University of Michigan put out the final January reading for its survey of consumers. Sentiment increased month-over-month to 56.4 from 52.9, but trails the year-ago reading of 71.7.

Recent trends

Freddie Mac’s January 22 report put the weekly 30-year fixed mortgage rate average at 6.09%, rising three basis points (0.03%) from the previous week. But note that Freddie’s data represents a broad average and is best used as a barometer of the market and trend tracker. Individual rates will vary by lender and depend on personal financial profiles.

Expert forecasts for mortgage rates

Looking further ahead, Fannie Mae and the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) each has a team of economists dedicated to monitoring and forecasting what will happen to the economy, the housing sector and mortgage rates.

Here are their quarterly rate forecasts for 2026.

The numbers in the table below are for 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages. Fannie updated its forecast on January 13 and the MBA updated theirs on December 12.

Of course, given so many unknowables, these forecasts might be even more speculative than usual. And their past record for accuracy — due to the volatile nature of interest rates — hasn’t been wildly impressive.

Mortgage rate methodology

The Mortgage Reports receives rates based on selected criteria from multiple lending partners each day. We arrive at an average rate and APR for each loan type to display in our chart. Because we average an array of rates, it gives you a better idea of what you might find in the marketplace. Furthermore, we average rates for the same loan types. For example, FHA fixed with FHA fixed. The end result is a good snapshot of daily rates and how they change over time.

Current mortgage rates methodology

We receive current mortgage rates each day from a network of mortgage lenders that offer home purchase and refinance loans. Those mortgage rates shown here are based on sample borrower profiles that vary by loan type. See our full loan assumptions here.

Today’s mortgage rates FAQ