Mortgage rates for the 30-year fixed loan finally broke below the 6% mark this past week, Freddie Mac reported, as the spread with the 10-year Treasury got below 200 basis points.

However, the 15-year fixed rate mortgage rose by a relatively large 9 basis points from the week of Feb. 19.

"For the first time in three and a half years, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage dropped into the 5% range, falling even lower than last week's milestone," Sam Khater, Freddie Mac chief economist, said in a press release. "This rate, combined with the improving availability of homes for sale, is meaningful and will drive more potential buyers into the market for spring homebuying season."

During the past seven days, the 10-year Treasury yield on several occasions got near to, but not at, the 4%, with several reports putting the 30-year FRM under the 6% level as a result.

The yield was at 4.03% as of 11 a.m. Thursday morning, down from 4.05 at Wednesday's close and 4.08% one week prior.

This includes daily data from the Optimal Blue product and pricing engine, which has the 30-year conforming fixed under 6% since Feb. 19. Although on Feb. 25, the average increased for the first time in a week to 6.964%, up 2 basis points.

The 30-year FRM averaged 5.98% as of Feb. 26, down 3 basis points from last week's 6.01%, the Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey reported. For the same week in 2025, the 30-year FRM averaged 6.76%.

The last time the PMMS was under 6% was on Sept. 8, 2022.

But the 15-year FRM rose to 5.44%, up from last week, when this product averaged 5.35%. A year ago at this time, it was at 5.94%.

Lender Price PPE data on the National Mortgage News website as of 11 a.m. Thursday, had the 30-year FRM at 6.07%, up almost 2 basis points on the day. At the same time on Feb. 19, it was just below 6.1%.

Even Zillow Home Loans reported that "daily 30-year fixed mortgage rates briefly dipped below the 6% threshold before edging back up," a Wednesday evening statement from Kara Ng, senior economist, said.

"While buying power has already increased $30,000 from last year, mortgage rates below 6% could be an important psychological threshold," Ng continued. "Round numbers matter, and that headline alone could prompt many sidelined buyers to take another peek at the housing market."

In a commentary on the upcoming Spring housing market, Stephen Kates, Bankrate financial analyst, is with those (like Ng said in previous comments) who expect the 30-year FRM to hover near 6% during 2026.

"The spread between mortgage rates and the 10-year Treasury yield has already narrowed from over 2.5% to under 2% over the past few years," Kates said in a Wednesday statement. "This spread is unlikely to compress further without direct policy intervention, so lower Treasury rates will be the most important factor for lower mortgage rates."

Those White House policy actions include changes to mortgage eligibility rules, and/or regulatory requirements, plus government-backed mortgage purchases.

"However, regardless of when such policies are announced, any meaningful impact would likely take months to materialize." Kates said. "In the absence of sustained intervention, lower Treasury yields would be necessary to push mortgage rates meaningfully lower."

Meanwhile, Pres. Trump's speech on Tuesday is unlikely to move the needle on mortgage rates, one executive said.

"In his recent State of the Union address, the President reiterated his position that a decrease in mortgage rates, which have dropped around 1% in the last year, will be key to improving housing affordability," said Marc Halpern, CEO of Foundation Mortgage, in a Wednesday statement.

"Nonetheless, mortgage rates continue to move lower very slowly, with a 30-year mortgage hovering around 6%, and recent minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee, which sets benchmark interest rates, indicate that without a further reduction in inflation, mortgage rates are unlikely to shift lower than another percentage point this year, and that's a generous prediction."