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Today’s Mortgage Rates Hold Steady: April 14, 2026

Today’s average interest rate on a 30-year purchase mortgage is 6.409%, according to Zillow data provided to U.S. News. That’s essentially unchanged compared with yesterday, when rates were 6.406%. For refinancing mortgages, today’s 30-year rate is 6.586%, and the current 15-year rate is 5.622%.

Interest rates on home loans have risen 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. The March consumer price index report released Friday found that inflation rose 3.3% year over year, which is the fastest pace since April 2024.

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: 6.409%

— 20-year fixed: 6.372%

— 15-year fixed: 5.622%

— 10-year fixed: 5.671%

— 7-year ARM: 6.621%

— 5-year ARM: 6.885%

— 3-year ARM: 8.25%

And here are the current government-backed and nonconforming mortgage rates by loan type:

— Jumbo: 6.512%

— VA: 5.559%

— FHA: 5.875%

[Read: Best Mortgage Lenders]

Current Mortgage Refinance Rates

Here are today’s mortgage refinance rates:

— 30-year fixed refi: 6.586%

— 20-year fixed refi: 6.632%

— 15-year fixed refi: 5.622%

— 10-year fixed refi: 6.073%

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. You can use the calculator below to run the numbers for your financial situation.

How to Shop for a Mortgage

The mortgage rates we display on this page are national averages offered by lenders as provided to U.S. News by Zillow, not necessarily the exact rate you’ll receive. Mortgage rates fluctuate throughout the day, and some lenders may be able to offer more favorable pricing for your situation than others.

“With spring homebuying season in full swing, aspiring buyers should remember to shop around for the best mortgage rate, as they can potentially save thousands of dollars by getting multiple quotes,” says Sam Khater, chief economist at Freddie Mac, in a statement.

Here are a few tips to help you shop for the lowest mortgage rate possible for your financial situation:

— Get your finances in order. Collect the documents you’ll need to apply for a mortgage using this handy checklist. You should also check your credit score and get a copy of your credit report to see where you stand.

— Apply through three to five lenders. Be sure to consider different loan types (such as FHA versus conventional) as well as different types of lenders (like online lenders versus credit unions). Keep your rate shopping to a two-week window to minimize the negative impact to your credit score.

— Compare loan estimates. This document will outline the loan’s costs, including origination charges, lender credits, discount points, as well as the loan’s interest rate and annual percentage rate, or APR. The APR includes the interest rate as well as any fees, making it a holistic way to compare the cost of multiple loan offers.

Check out this sample loan estimate from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to get a better idea of what to expect when comparing loan offers.

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 Hold Steady: April 14, 2026 originally appeared on usnews.com

Iran plays by Trump’s rules to deepen his war dilemma

(CNN) — Iran seems to be playing Donald Trump at his own game.The president complained Monday that the Islamic Republic can’t be trusted to honor an agreement, rebuking its rulers for one of his own signature moves.“It was a done deal, and then they broke it. They always break it,” he told Fox News of the memorandum of understanding that briefly ended paused the war. Trump did not seem to appreciate the irony of his critique, given his habit of walking out on multiple international agreements, including the Paris Climate Accord (twice). Some critics would trace America’s current predicament to Trump’s first-term decision to scrap the Obama-era deal capping Iran’s nuclear program.Later in the day, a frustrated Trump vowed to impose his own toll on ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz. Iran — in an offer laced with sarcasm — jumped in with a better price than the author of “Art of the Deal.”“POTUS is absolutely right,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote on X, arguing that Trump had legitimized Tehran’s position on charging for passage through the vital waterway. Araghchi added archly: “20% is of course too much. We will be fair.”Trump is finding out that Iran drives a hard bargain and has its own interpretation of what was in the memo. And he’s yet to clearly explain to Americans why he reignited a war that he repeatedly said he’d already won.Weeks after declaring that an MOU he signed with a flourish meant he’d forever ended Iran’s nuclear program and brought peace to the Middle East for the first time in 3,000 years, he’s changed his tune. Trump said on Hugh Hewitt’s radio show Monday the deal was a “test” Iran had failed and “didn’t mean much.”Once, admirers might have argued Trump’s sharp contradictions are evidence he’s playing four-dimensional diplomatic chess. Now he’s at best locked in a stalemate.Trump can’t change the core reality of the warThe MOU crumbled because Iran acted to defend its top victory in the war — effective control over the strait. This reinforced a harsh reality for the US: For all Trump’s threats and military power, Tehran is still dictating the dynamics of the showdown. And the equation that defined the war remains unchanged: The Islamic Republic is using geography and a shrewd understanding of its own limited power to outmaneuver a superpower adversary.The new test of wills sprang partly from the administration’s rush negligence in rushing to negotiate an MOU that contained imprecise language. Trump’s team of real estate negotiators under the leadership of Vice President JD Vance appeared to miss what critics more steeped in history and diplomacy immediately realized: that Iran would use it to grab new leverage.For example, the agreement called on Tehran to “make arrangements” for the free and safe passage of commercial vessels through the strait for 60 days and required it to work with Oman to “define the future administration and maritime services” in the strait. Superficially, this gives the US what it wants — the normal operation of the strait. But Iran seems to view it as confirmation it will control the waterway after a permanent agreement. It’s hardly surprising, therefore, it’s fighting to shape the new status quo.The misstep compounded an earlier mistake — the failure to understand that Iran would close the strait in the first place. That this is still an issue a month after the MOU was agreed upon suggests its 60-day timeline for a full deal, including on Iran’s nuclear program, was absurdly unrealistic.The administration’s struggles to compel Iranian behavior mean raise the bar is even higher for questions about Trump’s return to war.Is there, for instance, reason to believe that attacks on Iranian targets and Trump’s restoration of a naval blockade will be any more successful in changing the calculations of the new Iranian leaders than they were before? After all, Iran needed only a few missiles and drones to close down the strait again.And will swiftly mounting economic costs — oil and diesel futures shot up on Monday — again convince the president to blink to avoid the political and economic price that he candidly said last month he wasn’t willing to pay?Why all-out war could still be avertedOne reason for hope is that the renewed clashes could imply the US and Iran are seeking to cement their own interpretation of the terms of the MOU in order to set the table for future diplomacy.Trump, for example, has shown no sign that he’s willing to pay a possibly heavy price in US casualties that could result from invading the Iranian oil-producing hub at Kharg Island — one possible way to impose American superiority. Some other modern presidents, including Lyndon Johnson and George W. Bush, by contrast, intensified wars that already seemed inconclusive.And unlike his friend Russian President Vladimir Putin, the US president hasn’t responded to his strategic humiliation in a war that underestimated an opponent by launching all-out war on civilians. Tragedy did strike early in the war when an errant US attack struck an Iranian school, killing 168 children and 14 teachers, according to Iranian officials. And the full civilian toll of attacks is unknown.But Trump has not followed through on earlier threats to target infrastructure like bridges and power plants in Iran, which would severely impact civilian life. And Iran has maintained its own ceiling on escalation with its reprisals against US regional bases or its Gulf neighbors.The battlefield choreography, meanwhile, currently reflects a conflict that is simmering rather than raging out of control.“There is room for diplomacy, I think, despite the expanded attacks of the US against Iran (and) Iranian retaliation,” Danny Citrinowicz, senior researcher in the Iran and the Shiite Axis Program at Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies, told CNN’s Becky Anderson on “Connect the World.” But, he, added: “Things can get out of control and escalate because when you have back-and-forth attacks every day, every night, definitely it’s hard to preserve the rule of the game.”And even if the fresh conflagration stays just below the boil, Trump must still answer a question with which he’s been unsuccessfully wrestling for nearly five months.How does he get out of the war?The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
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