Friday, October 2 0.29% between the rate on the news and the rate on your sheet Freddie Mac published 7.28% yesterday morning. Lenders were quoting 7.57% today. The survey is taken Monday through Wednesday and released on Thursday, so the headline number is always a day or two behind the market. Your rate sheet is not. Freddie Mac PMMS, October 1, 2026, and Mortgage News Daily, October 2, 2026. National averages for illustration only, not a commitment to lend. Your rate depends on credit, loan amount, property and full underwriting. |
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Average rates today National averages, October 2, 2026 | Program | Rate | APR | | 30-Year Conforming | 7.57% | 7.68% APR | | 15-Year Fixed | 7.19% | 7.30% APR | | FHA 30-Year | 7.20% | 8.10% APR | | VA 30-Year | 7.21% | 7.46% APR | | Jumbo 30-Year | 7.66% | 7.77% APR |
HELOC, home equity loan and DSCR pricing is quoted per scenario, not as a national average, so there is no honest number to print here. Text me and I will quote yours. Conforming covers loans backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which are not quoted separately. Sources: Mortgage News Daily daily averages and the Freddie Mac survey. APR estimates use industry-standard fee uplifts. National averages for illustration only, not a commitment to lend; your rate depends on credit, loan amount, property and full underwriting. |
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From Debbie This morning’s jobs report was weak. Employers added just 29,000 jobs in September, far fewer than economists expected, and unemployment rose to 4.2%. July and August were revised down by another 60,000 jobs combined. The market reacted right away. The odds of the Fed raising rates again this month dropped, and the 10-year Treasury, the number your mortgage rate follows, fell from 5.25% to about 5.16%. For a few hours it looked like relief. Then it retreated. By this afternoon the 10-year was back near 5.28%, higher than Thursday’s 5.24%. Lender rate sheets followed it: the 30-year average finished today at 7.57%, up from 7.54% yesterday. That is the same lesson as last week, from the other side. A lower chance of a Fed increase did not hold mortgage rates down, because mortgage rates follow the 10-year, not the Fed. I made a short video on exactly this: Who Really Controls Your Mortgage Rate? So I would not plan around a Fed meeting. If you are buying or selling right now, there are ways to make today’s numbers work, and the example below is one of them. — Debbie |
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What a seller can do right now An $850,000 listing, with the seller buying down the rate Here is a real example from this week: a home listed at $850,000. With a 2/1 buydown, the seller pays to lower the buyer’s rate by two points the first year and one point the second, then it settles at the full rate. The buyer still qualifies at the full rate. I ran it four ways. FHA 7.375% rate / 8.275% APR | Monthly payment | 3.5% down
$29,750 | 10% down
$85,000 | | Year 1 (5.375%) | $6,265 | $5,884 | | Year 2 (6.375%) | $6,799 | $6,382 | | Years 3–30 (7.375%) | $7,356 | $6,902 | | Includes mortgage insurance | $513 | $446 | | Seller pays | $19,781 | $18,449 |
Conventional 7.625% rate / 7.735% APR | Monthly payment | 5% down
$42,500 | 20% down
$170,000 | | Year 1 (5.625%) | $6,030 | $4,994 | | Year 2 (6.625%) | $6,552 | $5,433 | | Years 3–30 (7.625%) | $7,097 | $5,892 | | Includes mortgage insurance | $303 | None | | Seller pays | $19,343 | $16,289 |
Why not just cut the price? Take the conventional loan with 5% down. The buydown costs the seller $19,343 and lowers the buyer’s payment by $1,067 a month the first year and $545 the second. Take that same $19,343 off the price instead and the principal and interest drops by about $130 a month. A price cut lasts for the life of the loan and the buydown lasts two years, so the right answer depends on the buyer. It is worth running both before anyone drops a price. Selling, listing or buying a home right now? Send me the price and I will run this for it. Example rates of 7.375% FHA and 7.625% conventional were set by Debbie Marcoux for this illustration on October 1, 2026; they are not the national averages shown above. APR estimates use industry-standard fee uplifts. Payments are principal and interest plus property taxes at 1.1% of the sales price a year ($779 a month), homeowners insurance at $3,600 a year ($300 a month) and monthly mortgage insurance where it applies. FHA loan amounts include the 1.75% upfront mortgage insurance premium, financed; FHA monthly mortgage insurance is 0.75% a year at 3.5% down and 0.70% at 10% down. Homeowners insurance and PMI (0.45% a year at 5% down) are quotes, not guaranteed, and vary with the property, coverage and credit. Taxes and insurance vary by state and county. HOA dues are not included. FHA loan limits vary by county. The seller’s cost equals the difference in the buyer’s principal and interest payments over the first two years, following JMJ Financial’s temporary buydown method. For illustration only. Not a commitment to lend. Actual rates, payments, eligibility and seller-credit limits depend on full underwriting. |
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Home equity Need cash? Don’t give up your low rate to get it. A lot of you are sitting on two things at once: real equity in your home, and a first-mortgage rate you would never get again. If you need money for a remodel, a pool, tuition, or to pay off higher-interest debt, refinancing your whole mortgage to get it usually makes no sense right now. There are two ways to borrow against your home and leave that first mortgage exactly where it is. A home equity line of credit works like a credit line you draw from as you need it. A fixed-rate second mortgage gives you one lump sum with a set payment. Lines of credit usually move with the prime rate, so this is a good time to compare the two side by side. I built a quick calculator on my site that shows roughly how much of your equity you could access, using your own numbers. It takes ten seconds and does not touch your credit. |
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For your parents Worried about Mom and Dad’s retirement? A lot of the reverse mortgage calls I get don’t start with the homeowner. They start with a son or daughter who is worried that their parents are house-rich and cash-tight. If your parents are 62 or older and most of what they have is tied up in their home, a reverse mortgage may be worth understanding. They keep the title and keep living there, with no required monthly mortgage payment. Their property taxes, insurance and upkeep stay theirs. It is not right for everyone, and I will say so if it isn’t. The best first conversation includes the whole family, so everyone hears the same information. Send this to them, or book a call together. |
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Selling a condo? Get the complex reviewed before you list  Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have updated their condo guidelines, and it is harder to get a condo complex approved than it used to be. The worst time to find that out is in escrow, when a buyer’s financing falls through and you are back on the market. So we are reviewing condo complexes before they are listed. In this video I explain how it works, what documents we need from the HOA, how long an approval lasts and who pays for the HOA documents. Sellers and real estate agents, this one is for you. |
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On the show this week  Buy First or Sell First? The Move-Up Playbook for Today’s Market Found your next home before you have sold the one you are in? You have more options than you think. Debbie walks through the ways to bridge the gap between your current home and your next one: selling first with a rent-back so you do not move twice, making your offer contingent, bridge loans and a home equity line, keeping your house as a rental, and recasting your new loan after the old house sells. |
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 | Talk to me Debbie Marcoux Mortgage Mom · NMLS #237926 · on air Wednesdays 3PM PT |
If something in here raised a question, ask me. You do not have to be ready to buy, you do not need paperwork, and there is no application involved. Most of what I do all day is answer questions for people who are still figuring it out. Pick a time that works for you and we will talk it through. Where I can help. Licensed in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Nevada, North Carolina, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas and Washington. If you are buying somewhere else, tell me anyway and I will say so straight away. |
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Send me your scenario. I will run your actual numbers for your actual situation. No pressure, no application. |
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Debbie Marcoux, NMLS #237926 · JMJ Financial dba Mortgage Mom Radio, NMLS #167867 · Equal Housing Lender. Licensed in AZ, CA, CO, FL, GA, HI, ID, IL, NV, NC, OR, TN, TX, WA. Debbie Marcoux is a licensed mortgage loan originator. She is not a financial advisor, investment adviser, tax professional or attorney, and nothing in this newsletter is financial, investment, tax or legal advice. Consult your own professional about your particular situation before acting. For illustrative and educational purposes only. Not a commitment to lend. Rates, terms and eligibility subject to underwriting approval and change without notice. |
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