Mortgage Interest Rates Forecast

Mortgage rates this week

Mortgage rates fell in the week ending June 19, as the Federal Reserve left short-term interest rates alone.

• The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.85% APR, down nine 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 5.97% APR, down seven basis points from the previous week's average.

• The 5-year adjustable-rate mortgage averaged 7.05% APR, down 13 basis points from the previous week's average.

The Federal Reserve didn't take any action in this week's monetary policy meeting. But the central bank's policymakers hinted that they expected to cut short-term interest rates once or twice by year's end. There are four more scheduled meetings, with the next on July 29-30.

A Fed rate cut would likely be accompanied by a drop in mortgage rates. But that result isn't guaranteed because the loans have wildly different terms. The Fed controls the rate on a short, overnight loan, while mortgages typically have terms of 30 or 15 years and are controlled by market forces.