Mortgage rates hit 3-year low, falling below 6%. Is it time to buy?
Homebuyers looking at the housing market from the sidelines just got a strong signal to come off the bench and get into the game.
Mortgage-finance giant Freddie Mac announced Thursday that home loan rates have fallen below 6% for the first time since September 2022. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5.98% as of Feb. 26, 2026, the firm said.
The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage ticked up, averaging 5.44%.
Vibes, not math
The small change on paper could trigger greater shifts in buyers’ minds.
“While a move below 6% is not a huge incremental improvement to affordability, it could shift sentiment in a meaningful way,” Zillow Senior Economist Kara Ng wrote Wednesday. “For many shoppers who paused their search, that psychological threshold may be enough to bring them back into the market.”
As important as the psychological effect of a sub-6% mortgage can be, affordability also comes into play.
“Mortgage rates falling below 6% is a big psychological and financial milestone—the first time we have seen that since September 2022,” said Nadia Evangelou, principal economist at the National Association of Realtors. “That’s a confidence trigger for buyers, especially those who have been holding out for rates to start with a 5 again.”
‘Tis the season
Spring is prime time for home sales, allowing families to sell and move while kids are out of school for the summer.
According to the National Association of Realtors, sales begin to increase in March and more so in April. The association estimates that more than 16,500 existing homes are sold each day across the country in April; the daily rate climbs to more than 18,000 in June.
Good news for home improvement industry
The lower mortgage rates are welcome news to the fix-it industry as well.
Home improvement giant Home Depot partly blamed high interest rates for a 3.8% year-over-year drop in fourth-quarter sales.
Lowes also cited high interest rates as a point of contention in its last earnings report.
‘Golden handcuffs’
Meanwhile, the number of mortgages that locked in rates of around 3% or less has been overtaken by the number of homeowners paying more than 6%. Those with lower rates have largely stayed in place in what has been seen as a stumbling block in national home sales.
On the flip side, homeowners with higher rates have been refinancing to the point of offsetting three years of lagging home sales.
“Loans, particularly for new purchases, typically slow down in the fourth quarter as fewer people are buying houses,” said Rob Barber, CEO of property data firm ATTOM, in a Feb. 12 post. “But this year, that seasonal slowdown was offset by a rise in refinancing, likely driven by the steady drop in mortgage rates, which have been some of the lowest we’ve seen since 2022.”
Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
