30-Year Mortgage Rates Price History
1971–2025 · Freddie Mac
If you've ever wondered why your parents talk about their 16% mortgage like it was a war story, this dataset tells the whole tale. It tracks the average annual 30-year fixed mortgage rate from 1971 to 2025, covering everything from the Volcker-era shock therapy that pushed rates past 18% in 1981 to the pandemic-era lows that let buyers lock in under 3%. Mortgage rates don't just affect monthly payments — they reshape entire housing markets, determine who can afford to buy, and drive refinancing waves that ripple through the broader economy.
Price in 1971
$7.54
Price in 2025
$6.65
Total Change
-11.8%
Years Tracked
54
30-Year Mortgage Rates Over Time
Compare to inflation: The chart above shows nominal (not inflation-adjusted) prices. Use the toggle to switch to inflation-adjusted values when available, or try the inflation calculator to convert any amount between years.
Key Insights
- The all-time peak hit 16.63% in 1981, when Fed Chair Paul Volcker jacked up interest rates to crush runaway inflation — a move that worked but absolutely hammered the housing market.
- Rates bottomed out at 2.96% in 2021, an unprecedented low that fueled a frenzied housing boom and let millions of homeowners refinance into payments they'll probably never see again.
- The post-pandemic whiplash was severe: rates more than doubled from 2.96% in 2021 to 6.81% in 2023, effectively pricing out a generation of first-time buyers almost overnight.
- The entire 1980s decade averaged above 10%, meaning a $200,000 mortgage cost roughly $1,750/month — compared to about $1,070/month at 2021's record-low rates for the same loan amount.
Year-by-Year Data
| Year | Price (Percent) | YoY Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1971 | $7.54 | — |
| 1972 | $7.38 | -2.1% |
| 1973 | $8.04 | +8.9% |
| 1974 | $9.19 | +14.3% |
| 1975 | $9.05 | -1.5% |
| 1976 | $8.87 | -2.0% |
| 1977 | $8.85 | -0.2% |
| 1978 | $9.64 | +8.9% |
| 1979 | $11.20 | +16.2% |
| 1980 | $13.74 | +22.7% |
| 1981 | $16.63 | +21.0% |
| 1982 | $16.04 | -3.5% |
| 1983 | $13.24 | -17.5% |
| 1984 | $13.88 | +4.8% |
| 1985 | $12.43 | -10.4% |
| 1986 | $10.19 | -18.0% |
| 1987 | $10.21 | +0.2% |
| 1988 | $10.34 | +1.3% |
| 1989 | $10.32 | -0.2% |
| 1990 | $10.13 | -1.8% |
| 1991 | $9.25 | -8.7% |
| 1992 | $8.39 | -9.3% |
| 1993 | $7.31 | -12.9% |
| 1994 | $8.38 | +14.6% |
| 1995 | $7.93 | -5.4% |
| 1996 | $7.81 | -1.5% |
| 1997 | $7.60 | -2.7% |
| 1998 | $6.94 | -8.7% |
| 1999 | $7.44 | +7.2% |
| 2000 | $8.05 | +8.2% |
| 2001 | $6.97 | -13.4% |
| 2002 | $6.54 | -6.2% |
| 2003 | $5.83 | -10.9% |
| 2004 | $5.84 | +0.2% |
| 2005 | $5.87 | +0.5% |
| 2006 | $6.41 | +9.2% |
| 2007 | $6.34 | -1.1% |
| 2008 | $6.03 | -4.9% |
| 2009 | $5.04 | -16.4% |
| 2010 | $4.69 | -6.9% |
| 2011 | $4.45 | -5.1% |
| 2012 | $3.66 | -17.8% |
| 2013 | $3.98 | +8.7% |
| 2014 | $4.17 | +4.8% |
| 2015 | $3.85 | -7.7% |
| 2016 | $3.65 | -5.2% |
| 2017 | $3.99 | +9.3% |
| 2018 | $4.54 | +13.8% |
| 2019 | $3.94 | -13.2% |
| 2020 | $3.11 | -21.1% |
| 2021 | $2.96 | -4.8% |
| 2022 | $5.34 | +80.4% |
| 2023 | $6.81 | +27.5% |
| 2024 | $6.72 | -1.3% |
| 2025 | $6.65 | -1.0% |
Sources & Methodology
Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS), weekly averages compiled to annual means. The survey covers conventional conforming 30-year fixed-rate mortgages and has been conducted weekly since 1971, making it the longest-running continuous mortgage rate dataset in the United States.
Primary source: Freddie Mac
For a full explanation of how we collect and adjust data, see our methodology page.