Mortgage Rates Ease Again: 30-Year Falls to 7.24%

Rates eased for a second straight week. Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey, released today, October 29, 2026, puts the benchmark 30-year fixed-rate mortgage at 7.24%, down 8 basis points on the week and the lowest reading this month.

The weekly benchmark

Loan type	Last week (Oct. 22)	This week (Oct. 29)	Week over week	One year ago
30-year fixed-rate	7.32%	7.24%	−0.08 (8 basis points)	6.17%
15-year fixed-rate	6.68%	6.60%	−0.08 (8 basis points)	5.41%

Source: Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey, October 29, 2026. One-year-ago figures are the survey week of October 30, 2025.

What actually moved underneath

The 10-year Treasury came down with it. The benchmark yield fell from 5.13% on October 21 to 5.05% on October 28, an 8 basis point drop that matches the move in mortgages this week. (Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, series DGS10)

The Fed held, but not quietly. On October 28 the Federal Open Market Committee kept the federal funds target range at 3.75% to 4.00%. The vote was 10 to 2, and both dissenters wanted a quarter-point increase. The statement said inflation “remains elevated.” (Federal Reserve)

Inflation is still the floor. September’s Consumer Price Index rose 3.7% year over year. That is the reading keeping the 30-year above 7%. (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)

Read the number honestly

Eight basis points is a real move in direction and a small one in dollars. On a $400,000 loan, 30-year fixed, principal and interest only, the drop from 7.32% to 7.24% takes the monthly payment from $2,748 to $2,726. That is $22 a month.

On the Austin area’s median home sold this month, $415,000, with 20% down, principal and interest comes to about $2,263 a month at today’s rate, about $18 less than last week.

What a year costs

$400,000 loan, 30-year fixed	Rate	Monthly principal and interest
Today	7.24%	$2,726
Same week, 2025	6.17%	$2,442

Illustrative. Principal and interest only, excluding taxes, insurance and any mortgage insurance. Not a loan quote.

That is $284 a month, and about $102,000 across the full term. Put differently, the $2,726 payment that carries a $400,000 loan today would have carried roughly $446,000 a year ago. Same payment, about $46,000 less house.

What this means if you are buying in the Austin area

Two weeks of relief is welcome, but the financing is still more than a full percentage point above last autumn. If you paused your search and are starting again, requalify before you tour. The price range you were approved for a year ago is not the one you have today.

The working order has not changed. Know the payment you can carry, work back to the price range that payment supports, and shop inside it. Rates set the payment, and the payment sets the range.

That’s where rates stand. We’ll track them again next Thursday.

Sources: Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey (October 29, 2026); Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, DGS10; Federal Reserve FOMC statement (October 28, 2026); U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI (released October 14, 2026); Ready Front Real Estate closed-sale data, Austin area single-family homes, October 1–28, 2026.