Mortgage Rates Today, October 19, 2026 (index as of Oct 19 close)

Today’s index numbers

All four readings below come from the Mortgage News Daily rate index on the same day, so they can be compared with each other.

• 30-year fixed: 7.43% (+0.06 on the day), Mortgage News Daily, as of October 19, 2026
• 15-year fixed: 7.07% (+0.03 on the day), Mortgage News Daily, as of October 19, 2026
• 30-year FHA: 7.04% (+0.05 on the day), Mortgage News Daily, as of October 19, 2026
• 30-year VA: 7.05% (+0.04 on the day), Mortgage News Daily, as of October 19, 2026

Freddie Mac weekly survey: 7.40%, survey dated Oct 15. A weekly national survey of purchase applications, so it lags the daily index above.

Also today: the jumbo reading on the same Mortgage News Daily index came in at 7.65%, down 0.02 on the day, and the 7/6 SOFR adjustable rate came in at 6.81%, unchanged. The Federal Reserve’s target range for the federal funds rate is 3.75% to 4.00% following the quarter point increase on September 16, and the next scheduled meeting is October 28. The 10-year Treasury yield is near 5.15% as of this writing, up roughly 7 basis points on the day, with the 2-year near 4.79%, also up about 7 basis points. One report landed this morning. The NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index fell three points to 29 in October from 32 in September, its weakest reading in 14 years, with current sales conditions at 33, sales expectations for the next six months at 32 and prospective buyer traffic at 18. The share of builders cutting prices rose to 43%, the highest in the 2020 to 2026 period (National Association of Home Builders, released October 19). The week ahead is thin: September housing starts and pending home sales tomorrow, nothing scheduled Wednesday, and weekly jobless claims Thursday.

These are national survey and index averages, not an offer.

What moved rates

Today’s close went the wrong way for borrowers, but not by much and not for any reason the market could point at. The daily 30-year index finished 6 basis points higher at 7.43%, with the 15-year, FHA and VA readings all drifting up alongside it. Mortgage News Daily was direct about the absence of a story, writing that there were no clear reasons for today’s rate movement in terms of economic reports or news headlines. On a Monday with one second tier housing report on the calendar and no inflation or jobs data, that is a plausible description of the day rather than an evasion.

What context there is sits in the shape of the past two weeks rather than in today’s close. The 30-year index reached 7.33% on Thursday and 7.37% on Friday, so today’s reading gives back a dime from Thursday and six basis points from Friday. Even after that, the last three business days are the mildest stretch the index has seen since late September. Treasuries moved in the same direction and at a similar size, with the 10-year up about 7 basis points to 5.15% and the 2-year up about the same to 4.79%, which is the ordinary pattern: when yields rise, mortgage pricing follows, and bonds and yields move opposite to each other.

The one number released today was about housing demand, not about rates. Builder confidence at 29 is the weakest since 2012, and the internals are worse than the headline: buyer traffic at 18 and nearly half of builders discounting say that the people who would normally be walking through models in October are not there. For a buyer, a market where 43% of builders are cutting prices is a different negotiation than a market where none of them are, and that is worth more attention than a 6 basis point day on the index.

Mortgage News Daily expects broad market sentiment rather than data to set the tone for the rest of this week, since the calendar is light through Friday. Today’s close is a daily index reading at the end of one session, not a live quote and not a direction.

What it means if you are…

Shopping. The index gave back six basis points today and still sits below where it was at the start of October. A quote from early this month is stale and a quote from Friday is close but not current. What you actually pay depends on your credit profile, the loan amount, the property type and the occupancy, so the only figure that says anything about your budget is a quote run on your own file today. If you are looking at new construction, the builder confidence numbers are a reason to ask what incentives are on the table rather than to assume the list price is the price.

Refinancing. The government readings stayed the better side of the table again today. FHA at 7.04% and VA at 7.05% both sit well under the 7.43% conventional index, and that spread has held through most of October. If your current loan is FHA or VA, price a streamline refinance against your existing note rather than against the headline conventional figure, because the comparison that matters is your own rate today against what your own loan type prices at. The refinance savings check on this site will run the arithmetic on your actual balance.

Under contract. A six basis point day does not change a scheduled closing. If your rate is not locked yet, it is worth asking your lender where your lock stands and what an extension would cost if your closing date slips. If it is locked, you have what you have, and tracking the daily index from here produces more anxiety than information.

What a $400,000 loan looks like at today’s average

At 7.43%, the monthly rate is 7.43% divided by 12, or 0.619167%. On a $400,000 loan amortized over 360 months, principal and interest work out to about $2,778 a month. Friday’s close of 7.37% produced about $2,761 on the same loan and Thursday’s 7.33% produced about $2,750, so today’s move is worth roughly $16 a month against Friday and roughly $27 a month against Thursday.

These figures exclude property taxes, homeowners insurance, flood insurance, mortgage insurance and any association dues; the actual monthly obligation will be greater.

Florida note

The item most likely to surprise a Florida buyer two weeks before closing is not on the appraisal or the title commitment. It is the municipal lien search, and specifically what it turns up about permits. Florida closing agents order this search separately from the title work, because the standard title search covers recorded matters while unrecorded municipal charges and permit records live with the city or county building department. What comes back is a list of open code enforcement cases, unpaid utility balances, special assessments, and the one that stops closings: open and expired permits on the property. An open permit means someone pulled a permit for work, a roof, a water heater, a lanai enclosure, a pool cage, an electrical panel, and the final inspection was never performed or never passed. The permit simply sits there, sometimes for a decade, attached to the parcel rather than to the person who pulled it. Two separate problems follow. First, the buyer inherits it, and in most Florida jurisdictions an open permit has to be closed before the building department will issue a permit for anything new, so the first renovation after closing runs into the previous owner’s unfinished work. Second, and more immediately, lenders and insurers both care. An underwriter who sees an open roof permit will often condition the file on it being closed, and a carrier may refuse to bind coverage on a home with an unfinished structural permit, which puts the closing on hold until it is resolved. Closing out an old permit is not a formality: the work has to be inspected as it stands today, and if the contractor who pulled it is gone or unlicensed, a new licensed contractor has to take ownership of the permit, which can mean opening a wall or redoing the work entirely. Some jurisdictions also charge a fee per permit for an after the fact inspection, and Miami Dade and Broward are stricter about enforcement than much of the state. The practical move is to order the municipal lien search in the first week of the contract rather than waiting for the title commitment, and if the seller disclosed any renovation at all, ask for the permit numbers and the final inspection records in writing. If an open permit does turn up, it is a negotiating item while you are still under contract and a problem you own the day after closing.

Rates shown could change or may not be available at commitment or closing. For a quote on your own scenario, use the rate-quote form on this page.

Daily Mortgage Rates is published by PMF, Inc. d/b/a Pioneer Mortgage Funding, NMLS #1980 · Branch NMLS #2681379 · Mortgage Loan Originator: Brendin Straubel, NMLS #1757609 · 401 E Jackson St, Suite 2340, Tampa, FL 33602 · 813-728-7764 · bstraubel@pmfmortgage.com. Verify licensing at nmlsconsumeraccess.org. Not a commitment to lend. All loans subject to credit approval.