Today’s Refinance Rates by State – December 18, 2024
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Today’s Refinance Rates by State – December 18, 2024

Posted on by Amelia Pressman

The states with the cheapest refinance rates for 30-year mortgages as of Tuesday were New York, California, Connecticut, Louisiana, Arkansas, Delaware and Mississippi. The seven states recorded 30-year refi averages between 6.60% and 6.90%.

Meanwhile, Kentucky, Hawaii, Arizona, Illinois, Indiana, Washington, DC, Alaska and Georgia were the states with the highest refinancing rates on Tuesday. The range of 30-year refi averages for these states was 7.02% to 7.09%.

Mortgage refinance interest rates vary depending on the state in which they originate. Different lenders operate in different regions, and interest rates may be affected by state-by-state differences in credit scores, average loan sizes and regulations. Lenders also have different risk management strategies that impact the interest rates they offer.

Since interest rates vary greatly from lender to lender, it is always advisable to shop around for the best mortgage option and compare interest rates regularly, regardless of the type of home loan you are looking for.

Important

The tariffs we publish cannot be directly compared to the teaser tariffs you see advertised online, as these tariffs are selected as the most attractive compared to the average prices shown here. Teaser rates may involve paying points up front or may be based on a hypothetical borrower with an extremely high credit score or a loan that is below standard. The interest rate you ultimately receive depends on factors such as your credit score, income, etc. and therefore may differ from the averages shown here.

National averages of mortgage refinance rates

The national average for 30-year refinance mortgages fell slightly by a basis point to 6.95% on Tuesday, but that is nearly a quarter of a percentage point higher than early last week, when rates fell to an eight-week low of 6.72%. The current average is almost a full percentage point above mid-September, when the average fell to 6.01% – the lowest level in 19 months.

National averages of lenders’ best mortgage rates
Loan type Average refinance rate
30 year fixed term 6.95%
FHA 30 year company 6.29%
15 year fixed term 5.87%
Jumbo fixed for 30 years 6.93%
5/6 ARM 6.99%
Delivered via the Zillow Mortgage API

Use our mortgage calculator to calculate monthly payments for various loan scenarios.

What causes mortgage rates to rise or fall?

Mortgage rates are determined by a complex interplay of macroeconomic and industry factors, such as:

Because any number of these factors can cause fluctuations at the same time, it is generally difficult to attribute a change to a single factor.

Macroeconomic factors kept the mortgage market relatively depressed for much of 2021. In particular, the Federal Reserve had bought billions worth of bonds in response to the economic pressure of the pandemic. This bond purchasing policy has a major impact on mortgage interest rates.

But starting in November 2021, the Fed began tapering its bond purchases, making significant cuts each month until it reached net zero in March 2022.

Between then and July 2023, the Fed aggressively raised interest rates to combat decades of inflation. While the fed funds rate can influence mortgage interest rates, it does not have a direct impact on them. In fact, the prime rate and mortgage rates can move in opposite directions.

But given the historic speed and magnitude of the Fed’s rate hikes in 2022 and 2023 – which increased the federal funds rate by 5.25 percentage points in 16 months – even the indirect impact of the Fed funds rate has become dramatic in the last two months Rise in mortgage rates led years.

The Fed kept interest rates at their peak for almost 14 months starting in July 2023. But at its last meeting, the central bank announced the first rate cut in a series of rate cuts expected to occur in 2024 and probably 2025. The first reduction was of 0.50 percentage points.

On November 7, the Fed announced a further rate cut of 0.25 percentage points, bringing the key interest rate to between 4.5% and 4.75%. With this cut, the key interest rate reaches its lowest level since March 2023.

The Fed’s next interest rate announcement will be on December 18th.

How We Track Mortgage Rates

The above national and state averages are provided as is via the Zillow Mortgage API, assuming an 80% loan-to-value ratio (LTV) (i.e. a down payment of at least 20%) and an applicant credit score range of 680-739. Resulting interest rates represent what borrowers should expect when receiving offers from lenders based on their qualifications and may differ from advertised teaser interest rates. © Zillow, Inc., 2024. Use subject to Zillow Terms of Service.

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