Mortgage Interest Rates Forecast

Mortgage rates this week

Mortgage rates fell across the board in the week ending Sept. 12. The average 30-year fixed rate dropped nearly 25 basis points without any help at all from the Federal Reserve.

• The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.04% APR, down 23 basis points from the previous week's average, according to rates provided to NerdWallet by Zillow. A basis point is one one-hundredth of a percentage point.

• The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5.17% APR, down 19 basis points from the previous week's average.

• The 5-year adjustable-rate mortgage averaged 7.48% APR, down five basis points from the previous week's average.

Because mortgage interest rates have fallen so much in advance of the Sept. 17-18 Fed meeting, it's unlikely that an official rate cut will push them lower. Lenders have already priced in a rate cut and then some. Homeowners with variable rate loans, whether an adjustable-rate mortgage or a HELOC, may feel the effects of a Fed cut the most directly, when their interest rates eventually ratchet downward.

» MORE: How the Fed affects mortgage rates