The mortgage lenders with the best rates this week include PenFed Credit Union, Chase Home Lending and US Bank, according to a survey by Yahoo Finance. Lenders were ranked based on annual percentage rate (APR), which includes lender fees.
With the second federal funds rate cut of 2025 announced last week by the Federal Reserve, potential home loan borrowers may be looking for mortgage rates to drop immediately. That’s not a sure thing.
The Federal Reserve influences, but does not control, mortgage rates. However, mortgage lenders could lean toward consumer demand and adjust their offerings because the Federal Reserve gets the world’s attention by cutting rates.
Here is an example:
“The Fed cut rates 0.25%, so we lowered ours,” Rocket Mortgage posted in a red banner at the top of its website. In fact, Rocket is in the top 10 for best 30-year fixed mortgage rates of the lenders we surveyed this week.
Here are the results of our survey of the lowest mortgage rates for conventional loans this week. The following numbers are each lender’s annual percentage rate (APR).
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PenFed Credit Union: 5.951%
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Chase Home Loans: 5.978%
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US Bank: 6.159%
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Rate: 6.26%
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Citizens Bank: 6.337%
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bank of america: 6.406%
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Wells Fargo: 6.414%
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Truista: 6.563%
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Flagstar bench: 6.711%
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rocket mortgage: 6.778%
These are all examples of mortgage rates found on lenders’ websites and are based on generic assumptions. Lenders advertise 30-year mortgage rates based on different credit scores, down payments and other credit qualifications. Even where you live affects your mortgage rate.
Your rate will be based on your particular credit profile.
If a mortgage lender required additional borrower information to provide a sample rate, we provided a median home value and credit score, with a 20% down payment based on a home located in the Midwest.
The key to getting the lowest mortgage rate is to buy, according to new research from Realtor.com. So, that’s what we’re doing for you: searching national lenders’ interest rates for the best deals we can find after the Federal Reserve cut interest rates last week.
We are also looking for details that you may want to consider. Borrowers often focus on the interest rate offered, as that is what lenders typically emphasize. However, the mortgage annual percentage rate, or APR, is the most important number.
The APR includes both the interest rate and lender fees (for example, the mortgage origination fee), making it the most accurate measure of your annual borrowing costs.
Lenders often include mortgage discount points to reduce the interest rate offered. That’s where things can get confusing.
First, discount points are prepaid interest – an upfront fee paid at closing that reduces your interest rate. Although lenders often include discount points in rates advertised online, purchasing points is optional. Each point represents 1% of your loan amount and generally reduces your interest rate by about 0.25%. For example, one point on a $400,000 mortgage would cost $4,000 and would reduce a mortgage loan from 6.25% to 6%.
On the other hand, Truist offered negative points, which are typically called lender credits. That means they are not charging you more for your loan; Rather, they will actually apply that credit to your closing costs.
Just remember, no matter what the lender puts in an advertised rate or loan offer, when you get a loan estimate and see discount points in the lender’s fee section, you can say no and remove them. But your rate will be higher.
It’s a lot of moving parts, we know.
If possible, when shopping with three or more lenders, have each of them quote a mortgage rate with zero discount points. Next, focus on the APR to get an accurate comparison of rates and fees.
Laura Grace Tarpley Edited this article.