Unless the market has another trick in store next week, prospective October homebuyers will be treated to the lowest mortgage rates since pre-Halloween in 2024.

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.19% for the seven-day period ending Thursday, a decline of eight basis points from the prior week, according to Freddie Mac. The 15-year rate fell by the same amount, averaging 5.44%.

Both the 30- and 15-year rates now sit at their lowest levels in more than a year. It was around this time last year that Treasury yields and mortgage rates spiked due to geopolitical tensions and the release of stronger-than-expected economic data, leading to a mid-January peak in borrowing costs.

“At the start of 2025, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage surpassed 7%, while today it hovers nearly a full percentage point lower,” Freddie Mac Chief Economist Sam Khater noted in a press release. “This dynamic has kept refinancings high, accounting for more than half of all mortgage activity for the sixth consecutive week.”

The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 55.9% of total applications for the week ending Oct. 17, compared to a 53.6% share the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA).

But mortgage applications fell 0.3% overall last week, according to MBA data, marking the fourth consecutive week of declines.

Prior to this week’s dip, mortgage rates had remained in a fairly tight range following a sizeable drop in early September, when the market began baking in a widely anticipated Federal Reserve rate cut.

In commentary released Thursday, MBA President and CEO Bob Broeksmit said the mortgage rate environment “remains volatile.” He also reiterated the association’s latest forecast, which predicts 30-year rates in the 6% to 6.5% range over the next year, with total mortgage volume increasing 8% to $2.2 trillion in 2026.