Mortgage Rates Today, Mar. 26, 2025: Seesawing Rates Might Continue for a While
The average 30-year fixed rate mortgage is 6.74% today, an increase of 0.01% since yesterday. The 15-year fixed mortgage rate stands at 5.81%, up by 0.01%. The 30-year FHA mortgage now averages 6.03%, having risen by 0.01. Meanwhile, the 30-year jumbo mortgage rate is 7.16%, reflecting a decrease of 0.01%.
The bigger picture
Last week, investors were gloomy about the economic outlook, sending mortgage rates lower. This week, they're a bit more upbeat, and mortgage rates have risen — almost exactly by the same amount as the previous falls, according to Mortgage News Daily's archive.
This seesawing has been a feature recently. Rates for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages closed on Feb. 25 precisely where they were last night, on Mar. 25. In other words, despite all the agony and ecstasy, nothing's changed over the last month.
Of course, mortgage rates have moved plenty over that time, mostly driven by uncertainty about tariffs. But the ups and downs have canceled each other out.
We may get more certainty about tariffs on Apr. 2, which is a week today. That's when the latest tranche is due to be implemented.
However, in recent months, markets have seen tariffs announced, implemented and withdrawn, sometimes within days. So, there may be some skepticism on Wall Street that Apr. 2 will finally provide clarity and a measure of certainty. As Barron's put it yesterday, "We’ve been here before and tariff uncertainty hasn’t gone away—far from it."
Last week, John C. Williams, president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, delivered a speech. He chose the title, "Certain Uncertainty." "It’s hard to know with any precision how the economy will evolve. Uncertainty is high, and there are many scenarios that could play out, depending on fiscal and trade policies and geopolitical and other developments," he said.
In this environment, we shouldn't be a bit surprised to see mortgage rates seesawing for weeks or months to come.
Mortgage Rate Trends: Past 90 Days
Purchase Rates
| Loan Type | Rate | APR | Daily Change | Monthly Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30-Year Fixed | 6.74% | 6.77% | +0.01% | -0.03% |
| 15-Year Fixed | 5.81% | 5.87% | +0.01% | -0.03% |
| 30-Year Fixed FHA | 6.03% | 7.23% | +0.01% | -0.03% |
| 30-Year Fixed VA | 6.09% | 6.23% | +0.01% | -0.05% |
| 30-Year Fixed USDA | 6.11% | 6.25% | +-0% | -0.12% |
| 30-Year Fixed Jumbo | 7.16% | 7.17% | -0.01% | +0.02% |
| 5/6 Year ARM | 6.76% | 6.8% | +0.08% | -0.26% |
Refinance Rates
| Loan Type | Rate | APR | Daily Change | Monthly Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30-Year Fixed | 6.84% | 6.87% | +-0% | +-0% |
| 15-Year Fixed | 5.8% | 5.85% | +0.01% | -0.03% |
| 30-Year Fixed FHA | 6.03% | 7.23% | +0.01% | -0.03% |
| 30-Year Fixed VA | 6.13% | 6.28% | +0.01% | -0.05% |
| 5/6 Year ARM | 6.88% | 6.93% | +0.04% | +0.08% |
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.
Mortgage rates today
This morning's lone economic report is February's durable goods orders, according to the MarketWatch economic calendar. These are expected to fall sharply, down to -1.0% from January's +3.2%.
Usually, with this type of report, mortgage rates fall when figures are lower than expected and rise when they're higher. But durable goods orders rarely move them far.
Later in the week
There are three reports later in the week that have real potential to move mortgage rates appreciably, depending on what they say. They are:
- Final reading of gross domestic product during the fourth quarter of 2024 (Tomorrow) — Markets expect this third reading to be the same as the second: 2.3% growth
- February PCE price index (Friday) — The Federal Reserve's favorite gauge of inflation
- March consumer sentiment index (Friday)
We'll brief you on each of those before publication.
