Mortgage Rates Today, Apr. 24, 2025: Is Volatility Behind Us?
The average 30-year fixed rate mortgage is 6.89% today, an increase of 0.05% since yesterday. The 15-year fixed mortgage rate stands at 5.91%, up by 0.01%. The 30-year FHA mortgage now averages 6.26%, having risen by 0.02. Meanwhile, the 30-year jumbo mortgage rate is 7.31%, reflecting an increase of 0.04%.
The bigger picture
Mortgage rates fell modestly yesterday. Over the last couple of days, we've been told to expect tariffs on imports from China to fall quickly. Meanwhile, threats to the independence of the Federal Reserve have receded.
So why has the reaction to that good news been so muted? It may be partly because of two April purchasing managers' indices (PMIs) published yesterday morning by S&P Global. In some ways, these weren't too bad.
However, the PMIs contained some worrying news about inflation. "Average prices charged for goods and services rose in April at the sharpest rate for 13 months, increasing especially steeply in manufacturing (where the rate of inflation hit a 29-month high) but also picking up further pace in services (where the rate of inflation struck a seven-month high)," said the S&P report.
A bond market largely determines mortgage rates, and investors in bonds hate inflation with a passion. They get a fixed return, and higher prices eat into the value of their earnings.
So, we should probably count ourselves lucky that those rates fell at all yesterday.
What's next?
Yesterday afternoon, MarketWatch ran a story under the headline, "Wednesday’s relief rally suggests the ‘Sell America’ trade is on pause. But is the worst really over?" It said, "Investors were putting the 'Sell America' trade on pause ... " But it continued, "Despite Wednesday’s mostly positive reaction across assets, some market participants were contemplating scenarios in which the economy could still slow to a crawl or the dollar can continue on a downward trajectory for years to come. Data released from S&P Global showed that trade fights are feeding inflation, slowing the U.S. economy, and depressing business confidence."
So, don't assume the good news we've been seeing over the last two days means everything is immediately going to return to normal. That's not impossible, providing a whole raft of trade deals are unveiled very quickly.
But that's looking unlikely. And, even if it happens, many investors still have concerns over the possible ballooning of the deficit when tax cuts are implemented.
Nobody knows what the future holds. But we're expecting heightened volatility for months to come.
Mortgage Rate Trends: Past 90 Days
Purchase Rates
| Loan Type | Rate | APR | Daily Change | Monthly Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30-Year Fixed | 6.89% | 6.92% | +0.05% | +0.16% |
| 15-Year Fixed | 5.91% | 5.97% | +0.01% | +0.12% |
| 30-Year Fixed FHA | 6.26% | 7.46% | +0.02% | +0.23% |
| 30-Year Fixed VA | 6.38% | 6.54% | +0.03% | +0.31% |
| 30-Year Fixed USDA | 6.41% | 6.55% | +0% | +0.3% |
| 30-Year Fixed Jumbo | 7.31% | 7.33% | +0.04% | +0.15% |
| 5/6 Year ARM | 6.77% | 6.8% | +0.03% | +0.09% |
Refinance Rates
| Loan Type | Rate | APR | Daily Change | Monthly Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30-Year Fixed | 6.97% | 7% | +0.03% | +0.13% |
| 15-Year Fixed | 5.91% | 5.96% | -0.01% | +0.13% |
| 30-Year Fixed FHA | 6.26% | 7.46% | +0.01% | +0.24% |
| 30-Year Fixed VA | 6.47% | 6.62% | +0.03% | +0.35% |
| 5/6 Year ARM | 6.88% | 6.92% | +0.08% | +0.04% |
Coming up
Although economic reports are usually the main drivers of changes to mortgage rates, they're not the only ones. The general mood in markets and economically consequential news can also affect those rates — as we've seen frequently recently, especially over tariffs.
Here's Comerica Bank's preview of economic reports due this week:
"Household sentiment was likely a little less dour in the April final release of the University of Michigan’s Survey of Consumers with the stock market stabilizing at month end. Households’ short and long-term inflation expectations, which soared after the initial reciprocal tariff announcement, were likely slightly lower. Durable goods orders probably posted another strong increase last month as car dealers rebuilt inventories that ran low during March’s surge in demand. Orders for nondefense capital goods excluding aircraft—a widely-watched proxy for business spending on equipment—likely rose at a modest pace, as businesses take a “wait and see” approach to investment amidst heightened economic uncertainty."
Mortgage rates today
We're expecting three economic reports this morning, according to the MarketWatch economic calendar. However, it's rare for any of these to move mortgage rates far.
The three are:
- Initial jobless claims for the week ending Apr. 19 — Markets expect these to edge upward
- March durable goods orders — Markets expect these to rise by 1.6%, faster than February's 0.6%
- March existing home sales — Markets expect these to fall to an annualized 4.13 million from February's 4.26 million
One of more of these would have to contain some shocking data for them to have an impact on mortgage rates.
This week
There aren't any blockbuster reports at all on this week's calendar. Just keep an eye on the final consumer sentiment index for April tomorrow.
