Mortgage and refinance interest rates today for July 21, 2025: Rates have increased since last July
Rates have increased since this time last year. In July 2024, the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate was 6.58% while the average 15-year fixed mortgage rate was 5.86%. Many people expected rates to fall this year, but that hasn't been the case. This is a good example of why home buyers should buy a house when the timing works for them, rather than following interest rate trends.
Read next: Best mortgage lenders for first-time buyers
Current mortgage rates
Here are the current mortgage rates, according to the latest Zillow data:
30-year fixed: 6.72%
20-year fixed: 6.52%
15-year fixed: 5.97%
5/1 ARM: 7.42%
7/1 ARM: 7.4%
30-year VA: 6.33%
15-year VA: 5.69%
5/1 VA: 6.49%
Remember, these are the national averages and rounded to the nearest hundredth.
Current mortgage refinance rates
These are today's mortgage refinance rates, according to the latest Zillow data:
30-year fixed: 6.70%
20-year fixed: 6.60%
15-year fixed: 5.67%
5/1 ARM: 7.59%
7/1 ARM: 7.46%
30-year VA: 6.32%
15-year VA: 6.15%
5/1 VA: 6.43%
Again, the numbers provided are national averages rounded to the nearest hundredth. Although it's not always the case, mortgage refinance rates tend to be a little higher than purchase rates.
Read more: The best mortgage refinance lenders right now
Refinance interest rates
Up Next
Up Next
Mortgage payment calculator
You can use the free Yahoo Finance mortgage calculator to play around with how different terms and rates will affect your monthly payment. Our calculator considers factors like property taxes and homeowners insurance when estimating your monthly mortgage payment. This gives you a better idea of your total monthly payment than if you just looked at mortgage principal and interest.
But if you want a quick, simple way to see how today's rates would impact your monthly mortgage payment, try out the calculator below:
30-year mortgage rates today
Today's average 30-year mortgage rate is 6.72%. A 30-year term is the most popular type of mortgage because by spreading out your payments over 360 months, your monthly payment is relatively low.
If you had a $300,000 mortgage with a 30-year term and a 6.72% rate, your monthly payment toward the principal and interest would be about $1,940, and you'd pay $398,334 in interest over the life of your loan — on top of that original $300,000.
15-year mortgage rates today
The average 15-year mortgage rate is 5.97% today. Several factors must be considered when deciding between a 15-year and 30-year mortgage.
A 15-year mortgage comes with a lower interest rate than a 30-year term. This is great in the long run because you'll pay off your loan 15 years sooner, and that's 15 fewer years for interest to compound.
However, your monthly payments will be higher because you're squeezing the same debt payoff into half the time.
If you get that same $300,000 mortgage but with a 15-year term and a 6.72% rate, your monthly payment would jump up to $2,527 — but you'd only pay $154,808 in interest over the years.
Dig deeper: How much house can I afford? Use our home affordability calculator.
Adjustable mortgage rates
With an adjustable-rate mortgage, your rate is locked in for a set period of time and then increases or decreases periodically. For example, with a 5/1 ARM, your rate stays the same for the first five years, then changes every year.
Adjustable rates usually start lower than fixed rates, but you run the risk that your rate goes up once the introductory rate-lock period is over. But an ARM could be a good fit if you plan to sell the home before your rate-lock period ends — that way, you pay a lower rate without worrying about it rising later.
Lately, ARM rates have occasionally been similar to or higher than fixed rates. Before dedicating yourself to a fixed or adjustable mortgage rate, be sure to shop around for the best lenders and rates. Some will offer more competitive adjustable rates than others.
How to get a low mortgage rate
Mortgage lenders typically give the lowest mortgage rates to people with higher down payments, excellent credit scores, and low debt-to-income ratios. So if you want a lower rate, try saving more, improving your credit score, or paying down some debt before you start shopping for homes.
You can also buy down your interest rate permanently by paying for discount points at closing. A temporary interest rate buydown (as mentioned early in the article) is also an option — for example, maybe you get a 6.5% rate with a 2-1 buydown. Your rate would start at 4.5% for year one, increase to 5.5% for year two, then settle in at 6.5% for the remainder of your term.
Just consider whether these buydowns are worth the extra money at closing. Ask yourself if you'll stay in the home long enough that the amount you save with a lower rate offsets the cost of buying down your rate before making your decision.
Mortgage rates today: FAQs
What are interest rates today?
Here are interest rates for some of the most popular mortgage terms: According to Zillow data, the national average 30-year fixed rate is 6.72%, the 15-year fixed rate is 5.97%, and the 5/1 ARM rate is 7.42%.
What is a normal mortgage rate right now?
A normal mortgage rate on a 30-year fixed loan is 6.72%. However, keep in mind that's the national average based on Zillow data. The average might be higher or lower depending on where you live in the U.S.
Will mortgage rates drop down?
Mortgage rates probably won't drop significantly in 2025 — especially over the next several weeks while economists keep an eye on inflation, tariffs, and the Federal Reserve.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
4 minutes ago
- Yahoo
'Wealth Does Not Stop. Rich Stops.' -- Grant Cardone Explains How To Build Multi-Generational Wealth
A high salary does not guarantee that you will build multi-generational wealth for your children. What you do with your money can build wealth, and that's a key lesson Grant Cardone shared in a recent video. "Wealth does not stop. Rich stops," Cardone explained. Here's how you can use this insight to approach your finances differently and set the stage for multi-generational wealth. Don't Miss: 7,000+ investors have joined Timeplast's mission to eliminate microplastics—now it's your turn to $100k+ in investable assets? – no cost, no obligation. Your Wealth Can Outlive You Cardone started the clip by mentioning that Walmart (NYSE:WMT) founder Sam Walton still has five children who are on the billionaires list. His children are still on that list because Walton built the largest global retailer. Walmart continues to generate positive cash flow for its heirs. While Walton doesn't earn any additional income, his assets have outlived him. Those assets continue to provide wealth for his children. You can start a business and then hand it off to your children in the future. That's building wealth. You can also make a six-figure salary, but that salary vanishes the moment you pass away or can no longer fulfill the job's responsibilities due to age or another factor. It's also possible to get laid off from your job, while you have more control over your financial destiny if you start a business. Trending: This AI-Powered Trading Platform Has 5,000+ Users, 27 Pending Patents, and a $43.97M Valuation — Your Wealth Gets Split Up After Death Cardone also mentioned that your wealth will get taxed and split up after you pass away. If you built your fortune on a rich salary with no assets, your children may not see a lot of it. Estate taxes and local taxes can also come into play, further reducing the inheritance you provide for your children. That's why starting a business is valuable. The cash flow continues to arrive, and your heirs can improve the business to boost its profits. If you don't start a business, you can also invest in assets like stock and real estate that generate income. It's better to be reminded of how your money will be taxed and split up when you pass your inheritance on to your heirs. It can give you the extra motivation to invest in passive assets and start a company that your children can A Brand Cardone wraps up the video clip by explaining that he's building a brand. He believes people will continue to talk about him for 50 years after he passes away. That type of brand will give his children more options. They can expand his work and continue to generate income from the company that he continues to build. It's easier to build a brand than ever before. You don't have to invest in supplies, retail locations, or any high-budget items. You can get started by creating a website, offering services that you can scale, producing content, and interacting with people on social media. Those efforts won't guarantee that you build a successful brand. However, if you are strategic about your core services, how you will identify your target customers, what marketing channels you use, and how you guide people along the customer journey, it's possible to develop a successful brand. Read Next: Warren Buffett once said, "If you don't find a way to make money while you sleep, you will work until you die." Image: Shutterstock Up Next: Transform your trading with Benzinga Edge's one-of-a-kind market trade ideas and tools. Click now to access unique insights that can set you ahead in today's competitive market. Get the latest stock analysis from Benzinga? WALMART (WMT): Free Stock Analysis Report This article 'Wealth Does Not Stop. Rich Stops.' -- Grant Cardone Explains How To Build Multi-Generational Wealth originally appeared on © 2025 Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Yahoo
4 minutes ago
- Yahoo
3 stock picks for second half of 2025
We are more than halfway through 2025. Hennion & Walsh chief investment officer Kevin Mahn shares three stocks he likes for the second half of the year. To watch more expert insights and analysis on the latest market action, check out more Market Domination Overtime here. Related videos Top Stock Market Highlights of the Week: DFI Retail Group, Trump's Trade Deal with Japan and Singapore Post Kotak Mahindra Bank's Q1 profits drop more than expected on higher provisions Smart Reads of the Week: STI Surge, MAS Capital Boost, and Long-Term Growth Picks Thailand's PTTEP buys full control in offshore gas block from Chevron for $450 million Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data
Yahoo
4 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Legendary Wall Street forecaster Bob Doll is having his best year
Legendary Wall Street forecaster Bob Doll is having his best year originally appeared on TheStreet. Stock market prognosticators are wrong so frequently that observers can rightly wonder if they're making forecasts using the oldest soothsaying methods, drawing pebbles from a pile, dropping hot wax into water, using random dots on paper or, of course, trying to find something magical in numbers. Yet at the start of every year – and again at the midpoint – countless market watchers take their crack at divining the future, mixing educated conjecture, informed hunches and the occasional WAG (wild-ass guess).Measured just about any way possible, most of those projections are wrong. CXO Advisory Group analyzed more than 6,500 forecasts—using methodologies ranging from fundamental to technical analysis—made by 68 experts on the U.S. stock market from 2005 through 2012. The investigation found that the accuracy of the forecasts was below 47% on average. That loses to a coin flip. From Black Monday star to today's afterthought Bad calls tend to be forgotten quickly, as soon as a forecast is updated based on new information. Winning picks are lionized and celebrated, even though the expert may have less staying power than a bull market rally. Wall Streeters sometimes call the tendency to place too much trust in a guru who made the most recent good call the 'Elaine Garzarelli Effect.' Garzarelli made her reputation as a Lehman Brothers investment strategist by urging clients to get out of the stock market the week before the Black Monday crash in 1987. That call made her one of the most widely quoted strategists on the Street, but it was also the pinnacle of her success. Whether it was brilliant prescience or dumb luck may be argued forever, but she never really duplicated that success. Garzarelli failed to generate much interest when she tried running mutual funds and a call on stocks being 25% undervalued late in 2007 as the global financial crisis was looming, further dimmed her star. While old-timers remember her name – she runs Garzarelli Research and her newsletter suggests that she is currently bullish on small- and mid-caps plus transportation stocks – she is like many one-time stars, known more for one right call than for being right consistently over years or decades. Bob Doll's forecast record beats coin flips, by a lot One Wall Street analyst who hasn't shied away from forecasts -- and has a stellar track record -- is Bob Doll, chief executive and investment officer at Crossmark Global Investors. In a 40-plus-year career, Doll has also been the top equity strategist at Blackrock, Nuveen, Merrill Lynch, and Oppenheimer Funds; at each of those stops, Doll—a regular guest on CNBC, Fox Business, and seemingly all financial media outlets—has started each year with 10 forecasts for the coming 12 holds his picks up to a grader each year and historically has been right 72% of the time. That's roughly where he stood with his 2024 prognostications. He has said that his best years ever put him at just above 80%. Entering 2025, Doll was expecting 'fewer tailwinds, but more tail risks.' His picks reflected that, calling for 'some bumps in the road, but some good news and probably more volatility,' in an interview on Money Life with Chuck Jaffe that aired in January. Now, seven months later, Doll is getting the results he expected. Eight of Doll's 10 picks tend to be tied to the economy and stock market, with one tied to politics and a wildcard. This is what Doll was calling for entering 2025, and how it's turning out: Slower economic growth as unemployment rises past 4.5%. The jury is out on this one, but if unemployment hits Doll's target – it's currently just north of 4% -- mark this as a win. Sticky inflation that stays above Fed's 2% target, causing the central bank to cut rates less than expected. Barring a Fed surprise, this one's on track.10-year Treasury yields primarily between 4% and 5% with wider credit spreads. The 10-year Treasury has spent the year in that range; credit spreads were up around the tariff tantrum but have narrowed since. But if there's an economic slowdown, they will widen and this one will be a winner. Earnings fail to achieve the market's consensus 14% expectation entering the year, and yet every sector has up earnings. This forecast is virtually a lock at this point, even with Doll expecting a second-half slowdown that could hurt some sectors. Equity volatility rises, with the VIX average approaching 20. The VIX averaged 18.5 in the first quarter and 24.4 in the second, so this call –and the VIX has only been this high in two of the last 13 calendar years – might have seemed like a longshot but now looks like a sure shot. Stocks experience a 10% correction and price/earnings ratios contract. The correction went on the books in April, and P/E ratios are down and appear likely to stay that way. This can be marked in the win column. Equal-weighted portfolios beat cap-weighted portfolios and value beats growth. Both of these conditions are true at the moment; the question is whether that will hold up through December. Financials, energy and consumer staples outperform healthcare, technology and industrials. This looked like a sure thing into June, when the margin of outperformance shrank. If financials weaken, it could put this one in jeopardy; barring that, it looks like another win. 'Congress passes the Trump tax cut extension, reduces regulation, but tariffs and deportation are less than expected.' The tariff forecast here is the one thing where Doll looks like he's wrong and won't recover; by year's end, this one is likely to look half-right, making it the one clear blemish that's efforts make progress but fall far short of $2 trillion in annualized savings. Even Doll acknowledges that this was a softball. In a July 22 interview on Money Life with Chuck Jaffe, Doll acknowledged that he now expects to be right at least 70 percent of the time, 'but I wish coming into the year we knew which seven we were going to get right. We could make a lot of money. The problem is you don't know which ones you're going to get right and wrong.' What Bob Doll think happens for the rest of 2025 As for the rest of 2025, Doll gave three quick assessments for where things stand now: "One, the economy is slowing. We just don't know how much it's going to slow. Two, we're beginning to see tariffs show up in the inflation numbers. We don't know how much. And number three we have this tailwind called [artificial intelligence] which is real and is keeping things moving." Further, Doll said he expects the AI play to broaden out. The tailwind called AI has also been particularly strong at the high end of the market. We all were expecting some measure of breadth this year. Are we going to see the breadth show up at some point? Yeah. Well, it obviously occurred in the first quarter, and then it went away in the second quarter. While Doll noted that tariffs seem to be showing up in slight increases in the Consumer Price Index, or CPI, he did not think they would cause a spike in inflation over the rest of the year. "I don't think [the impact of tariffs on inflation] it's going to be horrible," he said. "It's just going to be there. Remember, only 15% approximately of our GDP is from outside the United States. The other 85 is pretty domestic. So it's limited by how much of the economy it really affects. "Now, having said that, remember the Fed saying 'We've got to get inflation down to 2% and they're struggling at 3% and we're not going to get to 2%. And that means all these people who want the Fed to lower rates are going to have to wait a little bit longer."Legendary Wall Street forecaster Bob Doll is having his best year first appeared on TheStreet on Jul 27, 2025 This story was originally reported by TheStreet on Jul 27, 2025, where it first appeared.
