Current Mortgage Rates for June 2024 (2024)

The current average mortgage rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, the most popular home loan, is 7.10%, a 3 basis points decrease from the previous week. Borrowers looking for a shorter payoff horizon with 15-year fixed mortgages face an average rate of 6.64%, an increase of 1 basis points from a week ago. For buyers looking for guaranteed government loans for their dream homes, 30-year fixed FHA mortgages average 7.11%, compared to 7.08% the week prior.

Vault’s Viewpoint: Mortgage Rate Industry Trends

Average rates north of 7% might feel painful compared to the sub-3% we saw in late 2020 and early 2021. But it’s a whole lot better than it could be. A zoom-out reveals that average mortgage interest rates topped 18% in 1981.

A Look at the Housing Market

Even adjusted for inflation, houses were much more affordable in the 1980s. In fact, we’ve seen home values skyrocket in the last few years.

The pandemic drove a greater demand for stable housing paired with major supply chain disruptions. As a result, in 2021, the Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price index jumped 18.6%. That’s the biggest single-year growth that index has measured since it started tracking home prices in 1987.

It’s no surprise, then, that the sale of existing homes has taken a hit. The NAR reports that existing home sales have dropped from a peak of 6,600,600 per month in early 2021 to just 4,000,000 at the start of this year. In fact, 2023 was the slowest year for home sales since 1995.

Between high home prices and high mortgage rates (compared to the last decade), it’s no surprise many would-be homebuyers have been waiting to get serious about finding their new house. And the situation isn’t likely to change anytime soon—at least as far as rates are concerned.

Federal Reserve Rates and Mortgage Rates

Mortgage rates holding relatively can be traced back to the Federal Reserve. While the nation’s central bank doesn’t directly set mortgage rates, it does play a role.

That’s because the federal funds rate, which gets set by the Fed, determines what banks charge other banks for short-term loans. As a result, it impacts the rates lending institutions charge in general. A higher Fed rate means paying more in interest for mortgages, car loans and more.

To try and stem inflation, the Fed raised its rate 11 times between March 2022 and August 2023. That accounted for the biggest federal funds rate climb we’ve seen since the 1980s.

And mortgage rates followed suit. In March 2022, the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis reported that they averaged 3.76% for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage. By August 2023, the last time the Fed raised rates, mortgage rates had climbed to 7.23%.

Since then, the Fed has held off on rate hikes. Mortgage rates have similarly stopped increasing. Still, since mortgage rates are so much higher than we’ve seen in the last decade, holding steady isn’t an ideal outcome for many would-be homebuyers.

For now, they may need to sit tight.

Mortgage Rate Predictions for the Rest of 2024

The Federal Reserve has signaled that it’s likely to hold off on cutting its rate at least in the near future. Most experts say the earliest the Fed will announce rate cuts will likely be June 2024.

The Federal Reserve has meetings scheduled on March 20 and May 1, but it doesn’t look like any rate cuts will be announced at those meetings. Instead, many predict that the June 12 meeting is the soonest we can expect a federal funds rate reduction. The Fed may wait even longer to cut rates in light of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) coming in higher than expected in January 2024, too.

As a result, rates might move a bit in the next few months, but we likely won’t see any significant swings in the first half of 2024, particularly in the downward direction. That said, assuming inflation continues cooling as expected (and the January CPI uptick was just a fluke), most experts predict that the Federal Reserve will cut rates in the second half of the year.

If the central bank decides to slash the federal funds rate later this year,it will help to bring mortgage rates down. So if you’re not in a rush to buy, it might be financially advantageous to wait until the fall to start home shopping.

What Determines My Mortgage Rate?

Clearly, the federal funds rate plays a role in how much interest you’ll need to pay on your mortgage. That’s unfortunate since you can’t control the Federal Reserve, but it doesn’t mean your hands are completely tied. Some factors that determine your mortgage rate are absolutely within your control.

If a mortgage lender feels like you’re likely to repay what you borrow, they see you as a lower risk. Conversely, if they’re not so sure you’ll pay your mortgage back in full or make on-time payments, they may still lend to you, but they’ll charge you more in interest to offset what they see as a greater risk in offering you money.

We can give you an idea of where you can influence your mortgage rate, plus some areas that fall outside your control. Here’s a list of everything lenders consider when tying a rate to a home loan:

• Your financial profile: A steady paycheck goes a long way toward lowering your mortgage rate. So does a limited amount of other debt, from car and student loans to credit card debt. The more it looks like you can comfortably afford your mortgage payments, the more likely a lender is to offer you a lower interest rate.
• Your credit score: This falls into the category of your financial profile, but we’re calling it out individually because it’s such a big determinant of mortgage rates. That three-digit score tells lenders a lot about how you manage your money. A good credit score (670 or above) shows that you have experience with credit and you’re responsible with it. It informs lenders about your credit utilization ratio, for example. This tells them whether or not you’re regularly maxing out your lines of credit, like credit cards. In short, a good credit score tells lenders that you usually repay what you borrow and you make your payments on time. This means they see you as a lower risk, enabling them to offer you a lower mortgage interest rate. (While you can buy a house with bad credit, you’ll need to be ready to pay more in interest.)
• Loan amount: The more you’re borrowing, the more lenders risk in handing over that big chunk of change. Even if your financial profile isn’t outstanding, if you only need a relatively small home loan, you may still be able to get a competitive interest rate.
• Down payment: The more you put down, the more you lower risk for the lender. First off, the down payment directly reduces the loan amount. Additionally, though, a bigger down payment means you get your keys with more equity already established in your house. That means you have a lower loan-to-value ratio, which lenders like because it lowers your risk of foreclosure.
• Loan term: The longer you’re borrowing money, the harder it is for lenders to predict what will happen both in terms of your repayment and when it comes to the economy as a whole. Consequently, you’ll see lower mortgage interest rates on 15-year mortgages than on 30-year ones.
• Loan type: Adjustable-rate mortgages lower risk for lenders. These loans allow them to charge you more interest if market changes call for it. As a result, you’ll see lower rates on ARMs and hybrid mortgages (which start with a fixed rate, then shift to an ARM) than fixed-rate mortgages.
• Whether you’ve bought a home before: If you’re a first-time homebuyer, you can likely participate in programs specifically designed to help new homeowners. These can connect you to lower interest rates. Your options range from down payment assistance programs to HomeReady from Fannie Mae and Home Possible and HomeOne from Freddie Mac.
• Whether the loan is conforming: Mortgages come in lots of different forms. If the amount you’re borrowing falls under the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) limit for your area, it’s called a conforming loan. Lenders see these as lower-risk and charge lower mortgage rates than they would for, say, a non-conforming jumbo loan.
• Whether the government backs the loan: Some mortgages get backed by federal government agencies. These loans provide the lenders some security because if you fail to pay back what you borrow, that federal agency steps in to help the lender recoup some of their losses. As a result, loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) usually come with lower interest rates than comparable loans that don’t have government backing.
• The planned use for the home: If the home will be your primary residence, you can usually secure a lower mortgage rate than if you plan to use the property as a vacation or investment property.
• The lender: Each lender has its own proprietary process for underwriting the loan. During underwriting, they look closely at your financial profile, the house you want to buy and other determinants, like their own supply and demand. Because each lender evaluates and weighs underwriting factors differently, the rate you get offered by one lender will likely differ from the rate you get from a second and third lender, even for the same loan amount tied to the same house.
• The home’s location: Rates vary dramatically from state to state, and you can usually see some deviation from one city or county to the next.
• Points: Most lenders offer the option to buy mortgage points upfront. This means you hand over a lump sum of money in exchange for a reduction of your mortgage interest rate. Usually, each mortgage point costs 1% of your loan amount in exchange for a 0.25% reduction in your interest rate.

Evidently, mortgage lenders look at a wide range of factors when determining what interest rate to charge for any given home loan. To help yourself find the lender most willing to offer you a low rate, we have a few tips.

How to Find the Best Mortgage Rates for You

Taking certain steps before you start shopping for a home—and the mortgage you’ll need to buy it — goes a long way toward setting you up for success here. To help you pinpoint the right mortgage for your specific needs paired with the most advantageous interest rate, we have five suggestions:

#1: Save Up First

As we mentioned before, the more money you can put down, the more likely you are to score a lower mortgage interest rate. While a lot of mortgage programs—particularly for first-time buyers—allow you to buy with just 3% down, sticking with the minimum amount can quite literally cost you in interest.

Use a mortgage calculator to play with different down payment options. You might be surprised how much a few more months of saving can reduce your interest payments over the life of the loan.

On a similar note, you may want to save up an additional amount to buy down your mortgage with points. Again, each mortgage point often costs 1% of your loan amount. In exchange for handing over that amount of money, you can usually reduce your interest rate by 0.25%. Crunch the numbers to see how much buying points could save you over the life of your mortgage.

Don’t stop your saving there. On top of the money you need to actually get into your house, homeownership comes with its fair share of expenses. If your water heater breaks or your roof starts leaking, there’s no landlord to call. You don’t want to wipe out your savings to fund your down payment (and points, if applicable). Plan to save up enough so you have some left over to cover any homeownership costs that come up once you get your keys.

#2: Work on Your Financial Profile

Now is the time to make yourself look as good as possible in the eyes of mortgage lenders.

To start, be aggressive about paying down your debts, especially credit card balances. This can be tricky to pair with any savings goals you have. But since rates may come down later this year anyway, you have some time to balance both debt repayment and saving.

To get informed about how lenders will perceive you, check your credit score. You’re legally entitled to a free credit report from each of the three credit bureaus once a year.

It’s a tedious task, but it can be helpful to go through that report line by line. If you find any mistakes—like a bill reporting as unpaid when you know you paid it—you can dispute it. Once it gets corrected, it should give your credit score a boost.

#3: Wait to Make Changes

When you’re prepping to apply for a mortgage, you shouldn’t make any sudden moves. Specifically:

• Stay in your job. Lenders like to see consistent employment history. This provides the borrower with a steady paycheck they can use to make their mortgage payments. So if you’ve been thinking about a career move, put it off until after you buy.
• Don’t take on new debt. Applying for any new credit—whether that’s a car loan or a credit card—causes a dip in your credit score. That’s because the potential credit issuer checks your credit score as part of that application process. And that hard credit check drops points from your score. If you want to get the best mortgage rate, you want your score to be as high as possible. For now, avoid doing anything that would require a credit check.
• Keep old lines of credit open. Credit bureaus factor the age of your lines of credit into your credit score. Older credit means you’ve responsibly managed that money for longer, so it helps to boost your score. Plus, having more credit available improves your credit utilization ratio. It might seem counterintuitive, but closing any credit cards will cause your score to dip. As you prepare to apply for a mortgage, keep those lines of credit open. That doesn’t mean you have to use the card.

#4: Look Into Specialized Loan Programs

We mentioned a few of the nationwide programs available for first-time homebuyers, like Fannie Mae’s HomeReady and Freddie Mac’s Home Possible. We also touched on FHA, VA and USDA loans, all of which are backed by the federal government. Beyond that, many states offer homebuyer programs for first-time or economically disadvantaged borrowers.

Ultimately, you might have options out there beyond the traditional mortgage loan. Do your homework to identify which programs you can qualify for. Many of them can help you get a lower mortgage interest rate.

#5: Comparison Shop

If you only stick with one tip on this list, make it this one. This is the best way to make sure you’re getting a competitive interest rate on your mortgage.

Request a rate quote from a handful of lenders. Based on what they offer, apply for mortgage preapproval with at least three.

When you get a Loan Estimate back from each lender, look for the annual percentage rate (APR). This represents the annual cost of the loan, including not just the interest rate but any fees from the lender. Comparing APRs across the three lenders allows you to identify which loan will truly be the most affordable for you.

Yes, applying for preapproval with several lenders requires extra work. But if you need some incentive to tackle it, a relatively recent study from Freddie Mac can help. It found that homebuyers who compared mortgages from just two lenders saved an average of $600 a year. Borrowers who got four or more rate quotes saved more than $1,200 annually.

For a more thorough overview of how to get a mortgage—and how to get the best rate possible—we have a step-by-step guide.

Compare Current Mortgage Lenders

New American Funding

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Vault Verified

Minimum Credit Score

500

Days to Close

14

Minimum Down Payment

3%

Terms Offered

8 – 30 years

Why We Chose It

New American Funding offers competitive mortgage rates and a lot of transparency around them. You can see their current rates directly on their website. Plus, the lender has programs that you can leverage to fine-tune your rate. The Pathway to Homeownership program could help you put up a bigger down payment, lowering your rate, for example. Or you could explore the lender’s I CAN mortgages, which let you choose any term from eight to 30 years. Shortening your term by even a few years could help to lower your rate.

On top of all of that, New American Funding offers a 5-year rate protection pledge. This way, if rates drop, you can refinance without any fees.

Pros

• Lots of different loan programs to potentially help you lower your rate
• Rate transparency
• 5-year rate protection pledge

Cons

• You have to provide your contact info to get a personalized rate quote
• They charge fees that can add to your closing costs, like fees for bank wires and faxing in documents

See Also

Best UK mortgage deals of the weekWeokie Mortgage Rates (6.32%) - Review, Closing Costs & DetailsBest Credit Union Mortgage Lenders of June 2024 - NerdWalletMortgage Rate Predictions for June 2024 – NerdWallet UK

Rocket Mortgage

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Vault Verified

Minimum Credit Score

580

Days to Close

Typically 30 – 45

Minimum Down Payment

0%

Terms Offered

8 – 30 years

Why We Chose It

Like New American Funding, Rocket Mortgage offers custom loan terms. So, again, shortening your term by a few years could help you lower your rate without raising your monthly payment too significantly. This lender also readily offers today’s rates on its website.

Rocket Mortgage can be particularly helpful if you haven’t yet picked a real estate pro to help you find your home. If you work with Rocket Homes to find the house and use Rocket Mortgage to finance, you can qualify for a closing cost credit of 1.25% of the loan amount (up to $10,000).

Pros

• Custom loan terms could allow you to get a lower interest rate by shortening your term
• Rate transparency
• Closing cost credit of up to $10,000 if you buy with Rocket Homes

Cons

• You have to provide your contact info to get a personalized rate quote
• Relatively high lender fees (although the closing cost credit can help to offset them)
• Just four physical locations so most borrowers will need to work with the company online

Bank of America

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Vault Verified

Minimum Credit Score

580

Days to Close

Typically 28 – 42

Minimum Down Payment

0%

Terms Offered

15 and 30 years

Why We Chose It

As far as traditional banks go, Bank of America is a leader in the mortgage lending space. The company has thousands of locations across the country. If you’d prefer to work with someone in person to get your mortgage, this lender might be a good fit for you.

Like other options on this list, Bank of America also lists its daily rates on its site. The bank has some grant programs that can help with your down payment, too, allowing you to put more down and, in turn, get a lower interest rate.

Finally, Bank of America offers government-backed VA and FHA loans, which can both offer lower interest rates than comparable non-backed loans.

See Also

Weyauwega, Wisconsin (WI) Mortgage Rates

Pros

• Branch locations across the country
• Down payment grants of up to $10,000 for eligible borrowers
• Offers FHA and VA loans

Cons

• Stricter eligibility requirements than many newer online lenders
• Longer underwriting timelines
• Relatively high closing costs

PenFed Credit Union

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Vault Verified

Minimum Credit Score

620

Days to Close

30 – 45

Minimum Down Payment

0%

Terms Offered

10, 15, 20 and 30 years

Why We Chose It

Credit unions are known for offering lower interest rates, and PenFed is no exception. All U.S. citizens are eligible to become members of this credit union, which offers both FHA and VA loans.

Plus, PenFed can lock your rate for up to 60 days, giving you ample time to find your dream home with a preapproval in hand.

All of this said, be advised that while the credit union clearly lists its daily mortgage rates on its website, that rate factors in one mortgage point, which is only disclosed in the fine print.

Pros

• Credit union membership is open to everyone
• Rates can be locked for up to 60 days
• Offers FHA and VA loans

Cons

• You have to join the credit union to get a mortgage from PenFed
• Limited branch locations
• Advertised rates include one discount point, but that’s only listed in the fine print

PNC

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Vault Verified

Minimum Credit Score

620

Days to Close

7 – 10

Minimum Down Payment

3%

Terms Offered

10, 15, 20 and 30 years

Why We Chose It

With nearly two centuries of banking experience, you might expect PNC to have slow-moving processes and a clunky website. Actually, though, this lender has leaned into the potential of the digital age. From tools to explore loan types to calculators, the website can be an asset to home shoppers. It also features a module to check current rates based on the home’s purchase price, zip code and your credit score. And the lender offers VA and FHA loans.

Pros

• Useful website that lets you crunch the numbers on home affordability, mortgage rates and more
• Home Insight® Planner lets you shop for homes with real-time mortgage rates applied
• Offers FHA and VA loans

Cons

• Limited branch locations
• Some states don’t have access to PNC’s full suite of loan options
• Relatively strict eligibility requirements (borrowers with a credit score under 620 may not qualify)

Ally

See Offers

Vault Verified

Minimum Credit Score

620

Days to Close

Typically 28 – 42

Minimum Down Payment

3%

Terms Offered

15, 20 and 30 years

Why We Chose It

While getting the best mortgage rate helps you save over the life of your loan, many homebuyers struggle more with the initial out-of-pocket outlay than the monthly mortgage payment. Ally promises to help with no application, origination, processing or underwriting fees. Plus, its website makes rates easy to explore because it offers them as APRs, which include fees—and it specifically calls out how much that rate assumes you’ll pay in mortgage points.

Pros

• • No lender fees

• • Offers Fannie Mae’s HomeReady®program for first-time buyers

• • Rate transparency

Cons

• No branch locations
• Customer reviews are somewhat mixed, leading to an A- with the Better Business Bureau
• Doesn’t offer FHA, VA or USDA loans

Methodology

Bankrate displays two sets of rate averages that are produced from two surveys we conduct: one daily (“overnight averages”) and the other weekly (“Bankrate Monitor averages”).

The rates on this page represent our overnight averages. For these averages, APRs and rates are based on no existing relationship or automatic payments.