# US 30-year mortgage rate by president, 1980–2026

Source page: https://govargus.com/indicators/mortgage-rates

Average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey), weekly survey averaged by month. Follows long-term Treasury yields and the Federal Reserve's policy more than anything a president does directly.

Latest: 7.36% (Oct 2026).
Source: Freddie Mac, via FRED MORTGAGE30US (https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MORTGAGE30US). Monthly data, fetched Oct 19, 2026.

Since 1980, the average 30-year mortgage rate ranged from 2.68% in Dec 2020 under Donald Trump (1st term) to 18.45% in Oct 1981 under Ronald Reagan. Of the 8 completed terms with data, the average 30-year mortgage rate rose fastest under Jimmy Carter, at +1.50 pts/yr against +0.34 pts/yr in the four years before, and fell fastest under George H. W. Bush, at −0.60 pts/yr against −0.64 pts/yr in the four years before. So far under Donald Trump (2nd term), it has gone from 6.72% in Dec 2024 to 6.86% in Sep 2026.

## By presidential term

Each row is the value at the last full period before inauguration and at the end of the term, with the yearly rate of change, next to the rate of change over the four years before the term (the trend it inherited). A term's first year mostly reflects the previous administration's policies, and Congress, the Federal Reserve and the world economy move these numbers too. Govargus describes; it does not score presidents.

| President | Term | During term | 4 years before |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Donald Trump (2nd term) | 2025–present | 6.72% → 6.86% (+0.08 pts/yr, through Sep 2026) | +1.01 pts/yr |
| Joe Biden | 2021–2025 | 2.68% → 6.72% (+1.01 pts/yr) | −0.38 pts/yr |
| Donald Trump (1st term) | 2017–2021 | 4.20% → 2.68% (−0.38 pts/yr) | +0.21 pts/yr |
| Barack Obama | 2009–2017 | 5.29% → 4.20% (−0.14 pts/yr) | −0.11 pts/yr |
| George W. Bush | 2001–2009 | 7.38% → 5.29% (−0.26 pts/yr) | −0.05 pts/yr |
| Bill Clinton | 1993–2001 | 8.21% → 7.38% (−0.10 pts/yr) | −0.60 pts/yr |
| George H. W. Bush | 1989–1993 | 10.61% → 8.21% (−0.60 pts/yr) | −0.64 pts/yr |
| Ronald Reagan | 1981–1989 | 14.79% → 10.61% (−0.52 pts/yr) | +1.50 pts/yr |
| Jimmy Carter | 1977–1981 | 8.79% → 14.79% (+1.50 pts/yr) | +0.34 pts/yr |

## Events that bear on this indicator

- Mar 16, 2022, federal reserve: Fed begins raising rates. First of eleven rate hikes over 2022–23 to fight post-pandemic inflation.