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US 30-year fixed-rate mortgage drops to near 3-1/2-year low of 6.06%

BY Reuters | AGENCY | 01/15/26 12:38 PM EST

WASHINGTON, Jan 15 (Reuters) - U.S. mortgage rates fell significantly this week after the Trump administration initiated purchases of mortgage-backed securities to boost housing affordability.

The average rate ?on the popular 30-year fixed-rate mortgage declined to 6.06%, ?the lowest level since September 2022, ?from 6.16% last week, mortgage finance ?agency Freddie ?Mac said on Thursday. It averaged 7.04% during the ?same period a year ?ago.

President Donald Trump last week ordered the Federal Housing Finance Agency - which ?oversees Freddie Mac ?and ?another mortgage finance giant Fannie Mae - to purchase $200 billion of bonds issued by the two ?companies.

FHFA Director William Pulte said last week they had started with a $3 billion initial round of purchases. Trump is under pressure to bring down costs, including ?for ?housing, as he and his fellow Republicans face a tough battle to ?retain control of the U.S. Congress in this year's mid-term elections.

Trump has also proposed banning institutional investors from buying single-family homes. The average rate on the 15-year fixed-rate mortgage fell to ?5.38% from 5.46% in the prior week. It averaged 6.27% during the same period a year ago. (Reporting ?By Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Hugh Lawson)

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In general the bond market is volatile, and fixed income securities carry interest rate risk. (As interest rates rise, bond prices usually fall, and vice versa. This effect is usually more pronounced for longer-term securities.) Fixed income securities also carry inflation risk and credit and default risks for both issuers and counterparties. Unlike individual bonds, most bond funds do not have a maturity date, so avoiding losses caused by price volatility by holding them until maturity is not possible.

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