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Mortgage rates under Joe Biden

30-year mortgage rate · Democratic · Jan 20, 2021 – Jan 20, 2025

Under Joe Biden, the average 30-year mortgage rate went from 2.68% in Dec 2020 to 6.72% in Dec 2024, up 4.04 pts. That is +1.01 pts/yr, against −0.38 pts/yr in the four years before. Ranked by yearly change, it is the 2nd-fastest rise of the 8 completed terms since 1977.

TrumpDonald Trump (1st term) (Republican)BidenJoe Biden (Democratic)TrumpDonald Trump (2nd term) (Republican)Recession (NBER)2%3%4%5%6%7%8%9%20182020202220242026Mar 16, 2022 · Federal Reserve: Fed begins raising 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. Source: Freddie Mac, via FRED MORTGAGE30US. Monthly data, fetched Oct 19, 2026. The chart runs from four years before the term to two years after it.

Mortgage rates under Biden, year by year

Highest reading during the term: 7.62% in Oct 2023. Lowest: 2.68% in Dec 2020.

PeriodValueChange
Dec 2020, before inauguration2.68%
Dec 20213.10%+0.42 pts
Dec 20226.36%+3.26 pts
Dec 20236.82%+0.46 pts
Dec 20246.72%−0.10 pts

Mortgage rates under every president

Terms sorted by yearly change, fastest rise first, each next to the trend over the four years before it. A term's first year mostly reflects the previous administration's policies, and Congress, the Fed and the world economy move this number too. Why nothing here is a score.

PresidentDuring term4 years before
Jimmy Carter
1977–1981
8.79% → 14.79%
+1.50 pts/yr
+0.34 pts/yr
Joe Biden
2021–2025
2.68% → 6.72%
+1.01 pts/yr
−0.38 pts/yr
Donald Trump (2nd term)
2025–present
6.72% → 6.86%
+0.08 pts/yr · through Sep 2026
+1.01 pts/yr
Bill Clinton
1993–2001
8.21% → 7.38%
−0.10 pts/yr
−0.60 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
Donald Trump (1st term)
2017–2021
4.20% → 2.68%
−0.38 pts/yr
+0.21 pts/yr
Ronald Reagan
1981–1989
14.79% → 10.61%
−0.52 pts/yr
+1.50 pts/yr
George H. W. Bush
1989–1993
10.61% → 8.21%
−0.60 pts/yr
−0.64 pts/yr

Every term lined up from inauguration day on one chart · 30-year mortgage rate by president since 1980

Events during the term that bear on mortgage rates

  1. Mar 16, 2022 Federal Reserve
    Fed begins raising rates. First of eleven rate hikes over 2022–23 to fight post-pandemic inflation.

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