The average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage in the United States reached 7.28% in Freddie Mac’s weekly survey released Thursday, October 1, 2026. That is up from 7.03% the week before and well above the 6.34% recorded a year earlier. The week-over-week jump of 0.25 percentage points is a notable one-week move.
Freddie Mac’s 7.28% reading for the survey released October 1
The figure comes from the Primary Mortgage Market Survey, which Freddie Mac publishes every Thursday at noon Eastern. The October 1 release reports a 30-year fixed-rate average of 7.28%, and it remained the most recent reading as of October 3. The next update is due Thursday, October 8.
The survey week matters for interpreting the number. Freddie Mac describes the data as “an average of loan rates offered the prior Thursday through Wednesday,” so the 7.28% reflects applications from roughly September 24 through September 30, not rates quoted on the day of publication. A borrower shopping on October 3 could be offered a rate higher or lower than the average, since the survey reports a national average and not a quote for any individual borrower.
The prior week’s 30-year average of 7.03% means the latest print erased one week of calm and then some. Moving from 7.03% to 7.28% is a quarter of a percentage point in seven days, and the 30-year figure now sits at its highest level among the three readings Freddie Mac displays for comparison: this week, last week and the same week a year ago.
The 0.94-point gap against the same week a year earlier
Freddie Mac’s own year-ago figure for the 30-year product is 6.34%. Subtracting that from 7.28% leaves a gap of 0.94 percentage points, which is the basis for describing the current average as nearly a full point above last year. The gap falls 0.06 points short of a full percentage point, so “nearly” is the accurate word; no source supports saying the gap has reached one point.
Put in relative terms, the average rate is about 15% higher than a year earlier (0.94 divided by 6.34). Rates and prices are different measures, but for a buyer the practical comparison is the monthly payment that a given loan amount produces at each rate.
What 7.28% and 6.34% mean for principal and interest on a $300,000 loan
The following figures are arithmetic by The Financial Wire, not data published by Freddie Mac, and they cover principal and interest only. Taxes, homeowners insurance, mortgage insurance and any HOA dues come on top.
- At 6.34% on a 30-year, $300,000 loan, the standard amortization formula gives a payment of about $1,865 a month.
- At 7.03%, last week’s average, the same loan costs about $2,002 a month.
- At 7.28%, this week’s average, the payment is about $2,053 a month.
The difference between the year-ago rate and the current one is therefore roughly $188 a month on a loan of that size, or about $2,255 a year. The single-week move from 7.03% to 7.28% accounts for about $51 of that monthly difference. Loan sizes vary widely by market, and the dollar gap scales in proportion: a $450,000 loan would see a monthly difference one and a half times as large.
How Freddie Mac builds the PMMS average
Freddie Mac states that PMMS results are “based on the mortgage rate collected from thousands of loan applications submitted to Freddie Mac through Loan Product Advisor” from lenders across the country when a borrower applies for a mortgage. The survey no longer publishes fees and points, which Freddie Mac has not published since November 2022. That means the headline rate is an application-based average and does not capture the full cost of a loan, including discount points a borrower may pay to lower the rate.
The method also explains why the survey can differ from the figure a lender quotes on a given morning. Applications submitted through Loan Product Advisor reflect borrowers who have already begun the process, and the mix of credit scores, down payments and loan sizes in a given week can shift the average slightly. The published series is best read as a trend measure, which is how the same weekly figures are used when comparing one year to the next.
The Federal Reserve’s range at the time of the September move
The Federal Reserve’s most recent rate decision before the survey period was announced on September 16, 2026. The Federal Open Market Committee’s statement sets the target range for the federal funds rate at 3.75% to 4.00%. The federal funds rate is a short-term policy rate, and the 30-year mortgage average is set by lenders and the market for mortgage securities, so the two are separate numbers that do not move one for one. The 3.75% to 4.00% range is nonetheless useful context for how wide the spread between the policy rate and the 7.28% mortgage average currently is, at more than three percentage points.
Freddie Mac’s survey page is the controlling record for the figures in this article: 7.28% for the 30-year fixed average as of October 1, 7.03% for the prior week and 6.34% for the same point a year earlier.
Property-tax relief for homeowners and renters on fixed budgets
Homeowners and renters on fixed incomes often miss relief programs tied to property taxes and home costs because the rules differ by state and the deadlines are scattered across agencies.
The Senior Property Tax & Home-Cost Relief Kit is an 11-page kit that lays out the 5 kinds of property-tax relief and the circuit-breaker credit that includes renters, so a reader can work out which programs to look into.
Open The Senior Property Tax & Home-Cost Relief Kit and the five kinds of property-tax relief →
This article was written with AI assistance and verified line by line against the primary records linked in it.
Warren Cohen is a finance writer based in Phoenix, Arizona, covering personal finance topics including credit, banking, and beginner investing. He earned his degree in business administration from Arizona State University and began his career working in consumer finance, where he gained direct experience with lending and credit systems. He now writes for personal finance websites and fintech platforms, focusing on clear, practical content that helps readers make informed financial decisions.
