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Today’s Mortgage Rates: April 7, 2026

By U.S. News & World Report

Today’s average interest rate on a 30-year purchase mortgage is 6.502%, according to Zillow data provided to U.S. News. For refinancing mortgages, today’s 30-year rate is 6.706% and the current 15-year rate is 5.711%.

Interest rates on home loans have risen over the past month and a half, essentially since the beginning of the U.S. war in Iran. The Middle East conflict has put upward pressure on oil prices, which can make other items more expensive to manufacture and transport. Put simply, higher oil prices mean higher inflation — and higher inflation means higher interest rates.

Most experts expect mortgage rates to stay relatively elevated over the next few years, stuck above 6% for the 30-year fixed term. Although there’s always the chance that something unexpected could happen in the U.S. economy that could send rates tumbling lower, it’s unlikely that rates will fall below 3% or even 4% in the foreseeable future.

Current Mortgage Purchase Rates

Here are today’s interest rates for conforming purchase mortgages by loan term:

— 30-year fixed: 6.502%

— 20-year fixed: 6.503%

— 15-year fixed: 5.693%

— 10-year fixed: 5.998%

— 7-year ARM: 6.61%

— 5-year ARM: 6.796%

— 3-year ARM: 8.25%

And here are the current nonconforming mortgage rates by loan type:

— Jumbo: 6.455%

— VA: 5.716%

— FHA: 5.875%

[Read: Best Mortgage Lenders]

Current Mortgage Refinance Rates

Here are today’s mortgage refinance rates:

— 30-year fixed refi: 6.706%

— 20-year fixed refi: 6.769%

— 15-year fixed refi: 5.711%

— 10-year fixed refi: 6.067%

Mortgage refinance rates tend to follow the same trends as mortgage purchase rates, although interest rates on a mortgage refinance are often a few basis points higher than on purchase mortgages.

[Read: Best Mortgage Refinance Lenders.]

Mortgage Rate Trends in 2026 So Far

Freddie Mac collects weekly mortgage rate data, which can help provide context for mortgage borrowers on how and why mortgage rates change over time. Since the mortgage giant began collecting data in 1971, the median mortgage rate is 7.24%.

The 30-year fixed rate fell to a historic low of 2.65% in January 2021, driving up demand for purchase and refinance mortgages. Since then, mortgage rates rose to nearly 8% in October 2023 before coming down to around 6.5% currently. Still, that’s nothing compared with the record high of 18.63% recorded in 1981.

You can use the interactive mortgage rates graph below to see how 30-year fixed interest rates have changed so far in 2026, per Freddie Mac data.

Mortgage Monthly Payment Calculator

Your mortgage interest rate is just one aspect of your monthly housing payment. You’ll need to carefully consider how your home’s purchase price will impact your budget so you don’t buy more house than you can comfortably afford.

The mortgage term — or the length of your loan — will also significantly influence your monthly payments. Most borrowers opt for a 30-year fixed mortgage, which can keep monthly payments affordable because they are spread over a long repayment term. But if you can afford the higher monthly payments of a 15-year mortgage, it can save you tens of thousands of dollars in interest payments over time.

You’ll also need to consider property taxes, home insurance, homeowners association fees and private mortgage insurance, if applicable.

More from U.S. News

4 in 5 Homebuyers Are Still Waiting for Lower Mortgage Rates

When Will Mortgage Rates Go Down? See the 2026 Forecast

Historical Mortgage Rates: See Averages and Trends by Decade

Today’s Mortgage Rates: April 7, 2026 originally appeared on usnews.com

A whisper from the rubble led to baby’s rescue after Colombia earthquake

By CNN
(CNN) — When the deadly 7.4 magnitude earthquake struck Colombia on Monday, Brian Osorio Zuluaga ran out of his office in Cali and rushed home on his motorbike.The sight of a collapsed five-story residential building forced him to stop.“It was a large complex, covering an entire block,” Osorio told CNN.The quake was the strongest to hit Colombia in more than a decade and sent residents and neighbors of the building, La Torres del Limonar, fleeing into the street, “some in sleepwear or pajamas; some crying, others in shock,” Osorio said.He approached the rubble and began shouting into the wreckage for survivors, despite warnings about a possible gas leak.He suddenly asked those around him for silence. A faint sound rose out of the debris — barely a whisper.“Yes, I’m here. I’m with a baby,” a man’s voice replied.Osorio described how he and several others began moving debris with their hands to reach the pair. But a large concrete slab blocked their way.“On the first attempt, we couldn’t lift it,” he said. Then, “we all lifted together — one, two, three, up.”The slab was too heavy to toss aside, and Osorio was worried there could be more people trapped underneath. Some volunteers held it aloft as others cleared a path to the baby.“You can see the baby’s little head there — which, at the time, looked sort of purplish because he couldn’t breathe,” Osorio said. “Once we started removing the rubble, the baby began to… breathe, and his color started to come back.”Video of the remarkable rescue filmed by Osorio shows the tiny infant in a dusty bodysuit being carefully pulled out of the wreckage. A man, his arm bloodied, can be seen lying awkwardly on his side, still half-trapped under a concrete plank.Osorio said he was handed the baby, a boy, and gave him to a police officer, who took him to an ambulance. They then turned their attention to freeing the trapped man.In the rubble, Osorio said he saw clothes, shoes, and a stuffed animal covered in dust. He thought about the people who might still be trapped.“All those thoughts go through your mind,” he said.The bravery of everyone who rushed to help was what saved the lives of both man and baby.“Unity is strength, because no one person alone could have lifted that piece of rubble; it was so large and so heavy,” he said.“It’s better to act than to stand still,” Osorio added. “Every bit helps.”Rescue efforts enter third daySearch and rescue operations entered their third day early on Wednesday, as emergency responders raced to find more survivors after the powerful quake struck western Colombia, killing more than 200 people, according to a CNN count based on reports from officials.The quake struck at the heart of the country’s coffee-growing region and catapulted communities into a state of national disaster as world leaders offered aid and assistance.The European Union has mobilized its satellite service Copernicus and is providing funding to help the response, the bloc’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said.In Cali, a woman was pulled from under a mountain of rubble on Tuesday to cheers as firemen carried her out on a stretcher following a complex, multinational rescue operation.And in Pereira, a CNN team on the ground saw rescue workers and volunteers form a human chain to remove debris and help save those trapped from an apartment building.“There’s folks who have jumped in and you can see they’re wearing everything from athleisure wear to shorts, tennis shoes — they’re not prepared for this,” CNN’s senior national correspondent David Culver said from the site. “We have seen scenes like this scattered throughout Pereira. This is one of the hardest-hit areas.”But in the epicenter of Monday’s earthquake, Chocó, an indigenous leader told CNN that help has yet to reach the area, Colombia’s poorest region.Victor Chamapuro, leader of the Wounaan Indigenous Reserve “Buenavista” in Chocó’s Litoral del San Juan, said “all our houses are on the ground.”“Where are we going to sleep now? We have to be alert now, we’re sleeping outside,” he said.Chamapuro called on authorities to send food and medicine, saying one person in the community was injured.The “Buenavista” reserve can only be reached by boat on a five-hour journey from the port of Buenaventura, on Colombia’s Pacific coast.Video sent by Chamapuro from the reserve shows flattened buildings that appear to be built from timber and corrugated iron sheets. Others are still standing but with varying levels of damage.The earthquake is one of the first major challenges for Colombia’s new far-right President Abelardo de la Espriella, who took office only last week and has promised to strike hard at criminal groups and leftist militants in Colombia.De la Espriella on Tuesday announced economic relief measures for those affected by the quake, and financial support for people who have lost their homes to rent temporary housing.The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
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