Freddie Mac Says 30-Year Mortgage Rate Falls to 7.24% as Its Third-Quarter Net Income Rises 17% to $3.2 Billion

The average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate U.S. mortgage fell for a second straight week to 7.24%, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey released at noon ET on Thursday, October 29, 2026. On the same day, the government-sponsored mortgage company reported that its third-quarter net income rose 17% from a year earlier to $3.2 billion.

Weekly rates ease again

Freddie Mac said the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 7.24% as of October 29, down from 7.32% a week earlier. A year ago at this time, the 30-year rate averaged 6.17%. The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.60%, down from 6.68% the previous week; a year earlier it averaged 5.41%.

The company described the move in its headline as "Mortgage Rates Decline Further to 7.24%" and said the 30-year average "declined again this week, reaching its lowest level this month and modestly boosting purchasing power for prospective buyers."

The survey is built from mortgage rates on thousands of loan applications submitted to Freddie Mac through its Loan Product Advisor system by lenders across the country. Freddie Mac says the weekly results are an average of rates offered from the prior Thursday through Wednesday, so this week's figure covers applications taken through October 28. The criteria cover conventional, single-family purchase loans within conforming loan limits set by the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

The weekly readings arrived a day after the Federal Reserve held its benchmark rate in a range of 3.75% to 4%, and on the same morning the Commerce Department reported that the personal consumption expenditures price index rose 0.5% in September, putting annual inflation at 3.6%, while gross domestic product grew at a 3.4% annualized pace in the third quarter, CNBC reported. CNBC said Treasury yields fell following those releases.

Third-quarter results

In prepared remarks for the company's earnings call, Chief Financial Officer Jim Whitlinger said net income of $3.2 billion "increased 17 percent year-over-year, reflecting higher net revenues from both non-interest and net interest income." A summary of the company's Form 8-K filing put net income at $3.235 billion and net revenues at $6.810 billion, up 19%. The company also posted its third-quarter earnings release on Thursday.

Key figures from the quarter, as described by Whitlinger and the filing summary:

• Net interest income rose $422 million, or 8%, from the prior-year quarter; the filing summary put it at $5.877 billion.
• Non-interest income was $933 million, up $649 million from a year earlier.
• Non-interest expense was nearly $2.0 billion, down 6% year over year.
• The provision for credit losses was $800 million, compared with $175 million in the third quarter of 2025, primarily because of a Single-Family credit reserve build, according to the filing summary.
• The net interest yield rose 3 basis points to 67 basis points.
• The total mortgage portfolio grew 2% year over year to nearly $3.7 trillion.

Whitlinger said Freddie Mac provided $114 billion of liquidity to the U.S. housing market during the quarter and that its support "helped 420,000 families buy, refinance, or rent a home." Of those buying a primary residence, 51% were first-time homebuyers, he said.

Single-Family and Multifamily segments

The Single-Family segment reported net income of $2.7 billion, up 16% from a year earlier. Freddie Mac acquired $98 billion of new single-family business in the quarter, with purchase loans accounting for 81% of originations and refinance loans 19%. The serious delinquency rate for the single-family portfolio was 61 basis points as of September 30, up 4 basis points from a year earlier and 1 basis point from the prior quarter; Whitlinger attributed the annual increase mainly to loans originated from 2022 through 2024.

He said house prices rose 0.5% during the third quarter, compared with a 0.2% increase a year earlier, and that mortgage rates ended the quarter at 7.03%, "the highest level since the beginning of the year, continuing to weigh on market activity." The company's current forecast assumes house prices will grow 1.3% over the next 12 months and 1.5% over the following 12 months.

The Multifamily segment earned $521 million, up 22%. Multifamily new business activity was $16 billion, down from $25 billion a year earlier, which Whitlinger said was primarily driven by the elevated mortgage interest rate environment. The multifamily mortgage portfolio stood at $510 billion, up 6%.

Net worth and capital

Freddie Mac ended the quarter with a net worth of nearly $81 billion, up 20% from a year earlier. Under its regulatory capital rule, total capital required at quarter-end was $162 billion, including $60 billion of stress and stability buffers. Excluding buffers, the capital shortfall was $98 billion, which Whitlinger said was largely because the $73 billion of Senior Preferred Stock does not qualify as regulatory capital. The filing summary said net income attributable to common stockholders was $29 million, or $0.01 per common share.

Freddie Mac's over-the-counter shares traded at $3.96 as of about 11:53 a.m. ET, up about 8.8% from the previous close, according to Yahoo Finance quote data.