Article · Housing
Mortgage rates history
The average rate on conventional home-purchase mortgages in the US was 6.2% in December 2025, the latest month the Federal Housing Finance Agency has published. Since 1963 the yearly average has run from 3.2% in 2021 to 14.73% in 1982; the highest month was November 1981, at 15.75%. These are average rates on loans closed, all terms, fixed and adjustable — not the weekly 30-year quote in the news.
average rate on conventional home-purchase loans closed that month; the change is in points against December 2024 (6.6%)
1982; the highest month was November 1981, at 15.75%
2021; the lowest month was December 2020, at 3.0%
years since 1963 had a higher average rate than 2025's 6.4%; the median year: 6.94%
a month, principal and interest over 30 years; at 1982's rate $4,102, at 2021's $1,427
Mortgage rates since 1973, month by month
The rate peaked in November 1981 at 15.75%, when inflation and the Federal Reserve's fight against it had pushed every interest rate up. From there it fell, with pauses, until December 2020, when it bottomed at 3.0%.
The fastest rise over twelve months ended in May 1980: +3.3 points since May 1979. The fastest fall ended in May 1983: −3.2 points.
In December 2025, the latest month in FHFA's data, the rate was 6.2%, 0.4 points lower than in December 2024. These are loans that have closed, so the figure trails the rates lenders quote by weeks, and FHFA publishes it months later. The switch shows the rate after inflation: the rate minus consumer-price inflation over the previous 12 months.
Every year since 1963, one brick each
Each brick is a calendar year, placed by its average mortgage rate; 2025, at 6.4%, is the one outlined. 39 of the other 62 years since 1963 had a higher average rate and 23 a lower one; the median year was 6.94%.
7 years averaged 10% or more, all between 1979 and 1985; 13 years averaged under 5%, all between 2010 and 2022.
Mortgage rates by decade
Of the whole decades, the 1980s had the highest average rate, 11.5%, and the 2010s the lowest, 4.1%. Each card gives the decade's highest and lowest year and the payment on the same $330,000 loan at the decade's average rate.
1960s*
6.4%
average rate
- Highest year
- 7.67% 1969
- Lowest year
- 5.83% 1965
- Payment on $330,000
- $2,063
- After inflation
- +3.6 pp
1970s
8.6%
average rate
- Highest year
- 10.59% 1979
- Lowest year
- 7.4% 1972
- Payment on $330,000
- $2,568
- After inflation
- +1.5 pp
1980s
11.5%
average rate
- Highest year
- 14.73% 1982
- Lowest year
- 8.95% 1987
- Payment on $330,000
- $3,256
- After inflation
- +5.9 pp
1990s
7.8%
average rate
- Highest year
- 9.74% 1990
- Lowest year
- 6.93% 1993
- Payment on $330,000
- $2,371
- After inflation
- +4.8 pp
2000s
6.3%
average rate
- Highest year
- 7.86% 2000
- Lowest year
- 5.05% 2009
- Payment on $330,000
- $2,032
- After inflation
- +3.7 pp
2010s
4.1%
average rate
- Highest year
- 4.81% 2010
- Lowest year
- 3.65% 2012
- Payment on $330,000
- $1,603
- After inflation
- +2.4 pp
2020s*
5.2%
average rate
- Highest year
- 6.6% 2024
- Lowest year
- 3.2% 2021
- Payment on $330,000
- $1,805
- After inflation
- +1.2 pp
Decades as a table
| Decade | Average | Highest year | Lowest year | After inflation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s* | 6.40% | 7.67% 1969 | 5.83% 1965 | +3.6 pp |
| 1970s | 8.63% | 10.59% 1979 | 7.4% 1972 | +1.5 pp |
| 1980s | 11.45% | 14.73% 1982 | 8.95% 1987 | +5.9 pp |
| 1990s | 7.78% | 9.74% 1990 | 6.93% 1993 | +4.8 pp |
| 2000s | 6.25% | 7.86% 2000 | 5.05% 2009 | +3.7 pp |
| 2010s | 4.15% | 4.81% 2010 | 3.65% 2012 | +2.4 pp |
| 2020s* | 5.17% | 6.6% 2024 | 3.2% 2021 | +1.2 pp |
* Not a whole decade: from the first year of the data or to the latest one.
What the rate does to a monthly payment
Take one loan — $330,000, 80% of the median new house of 2025 ($417,400) — and repay it over 30 years at each year's average rate. At 2025's 6.4% the payment is $2,064 a month. At 1982's 14.73% it would be $4,102; at 2021's 3.2%, $1,427.
The first payment shows the difference best: at 1982's rate 99% of it was interest, at 2021's 62%, at 2025's 85%. Over 30 years the interest alone adds up to $1,147,000, $184,000 and $413,000.
Monthly payment per $100,000, by rate
Every point counts: at 7% a $100,000 loan over 30 years costs $665 a month, at 8% $734, or $68 more. The last column lists the years whose average rate was within half a point.
| Rate | Payment a month | Interest over 30 years | Years near this rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3% | $422 | $51,777 | 2020, 2021 |
| 4% | $477 | $71,870 | 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019 |
| 5% | $537 | $93,256 | 2009, 2010, 2011, 2018, 2022 |
| 6% | $600 | $115,838 | 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2025 |
| 7% | $665 | $139,509 | 1968, 1972, 1993, 1994, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2006, 2023, 2024 |
| 8% | $734 | $164,155 | 1969, 1970, 1971, 1973, 1992, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2000 |
| 9% | $805 | $189,664 | 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1987, 1988, 1991 |
| 10% | $878 | $215,926 | 1986, 1989, 1990 |
| 11% | $952 | $242,836 | 1979, 1985 |
| 12% | $1,029 | $270,301 | 1980, 1983, 1984 |
| 13% | $1,106 | $298,232 | — |
| 14% | $1,185 | $326,554 | 1981 |
| 15% | $1,264 | $355,200 | 1982 |
Principal and interest on $100,000 over 30 years at a fixed rate; years: the yearly average rate from half a point below to just under half a point above.
Mortgage rates and inflation
What a mortgage costs after inflation is the rate minus the rise in prices. By year, the rate after inflation was highest in 1983, at +9.0 points, and lowest in 2022, at −3.1; in 2025 it was +3.7 (inflation 2.7%). The average since 1963: +3.4 points. In 6 years it was below zero — prices rose faster than the mortgage rate: 1974, 1975, 1979, 1980, 2021, 2022.
Mortgage rates and the 10-year Treasury
Long-term loans are priced off long-term money, so the mortgage rate moves with the 10-year Treasury yield, with a gap on top. Since 1973 the gap averaged 1.4 points; it was widest in May 1980, at 3.4 points, and smallest in June 1984, at −1.8. It even dipped below zero in 24 months between February 1980 and December 1994: when Treasury yields jumped faster than the rates on loans already in the pipeline, or when adjustable-rate loans with lower starting rates made up much of the average.
In December 2025 the mortgage rate stood 2.1 points above the 10-year yield of 4.14% — wider than the average.
Questions people ask
What is the highest mortgage rate in history?
In FHFA's data since 1963, the highest yearly average was 14.73%, in 1982, and the highest month November 1981, at 15.75%. These are averages of loans closed, fixed and adjustable together; quotes for new 30-year fixed loans at the peak were higher.
What was the lowest mortgage rate ever?
3.2% as a yearly average, in 2021, and 3.0% in December 2020, the lowest month in the data.
What were mortgage rates by decade?
Average rates: 1960s*: 6.4%; 1970s: 8.6%; 1980s: 11.5%; 1990s: 7.8%; 2000s: 6.3%; 2010s: 4.1%; 2020s*: 5.2% (* not a whole decade).
How are mortgage rates related to the 10-year Treasury yield?
They move together. Since 1973 the average mortgage rate ran 1.4 points above the 10-year Treasury yield, between −1.8 and 3.4 points; in December 2025 the gap was 2.1 points.
Why is this rate different from the 30-year rate in the news?
The rate in the news is a weekly survey of 30-year fixed-rate loans. This series is FHFA's average of all conventional home-purchase loans closed in the month — 30-year, 15-year and adjustable together — and closings trail rate locks by weeks. In 1990–2019, when FHFA's survey also published a 30-year fixed rate, it ran 0.2 points above this average on average.
Go deeper
How the numbers are calculated
- Data: Federal Housing Finance Agency, the Monthly Interest Rate Survey (Tables 9, 17 and 26) and the National Mortgage Database aggregate statistics (public domain).
- The rate is the average contract rate on conventional (not FHA or VA) loans for home purchases closed in each month or year, all terms, fixed and adjustable, without fees and points. It is not the weekly 30-year fixed quote in the news; in years with many adjustable-rate loans it runs lower, and closings trail the market. The latest month, Dec 2025, comes from FHFA's latest quarterly release.
- Two sources: the survey to 2018 (it ended with April 2019) and the database from 2019, given to one decimal. In 1998–2018, when both exist, the database runs 0.3 points higher on average, so 2019 may step up by about that much. Years start in 1963, months in 1973.
- For reference: in 1990–2019 FHFA's survey also published the rate on 30-year fixed-rate loans within the conforming limit; it averaged 0.2 points above the all-loans rate.
- Payment: L × i ÷ (1 − (1 + i)−360), i = rate ÷ 12, for the same loan in every year: $330,000, 80% of the 2025 median new house (U.S. Census Bureau), rounded to $10,000. Interest in the first payment = L × i; principal = payment − interest.
- After inflation: the rate minus the change in the US consumer price index over 12 months (monthly chart) or between yearly averages (years, decades, the grid); Robert Shiller's CPI data.
- 10-year yield: monthly averages of the Treasury's daily par yields from 1990 (U.S. Department of the Treasury); before, Robert Shiller's monthly series (the Federal Reserve's 10-year constant-maturity yield).
- History, not a forecast. Nothing here is investment, mortgage or financial advice.