The Democrats' best card
Obama −0.91 pts
From 5.10% to 4.19%, January 2009 to January 2017.
The chart they hide: Carter +6.34 pts
AI illustrationMortgage rates
The mortgage shock: what buying a home costs now
An entire generation is locked out of its first home. See where rates are, where they peaked and who was president when it happened.
- 30-year fixed · November 2026
- 7.18%
- vs. a year ago
- +0.95 pts
- Record high · October 1981
- 18.44%
- Record low · December 2020
- 2.67%
The whole story, month by month
Democrats vs. Republicans
Democrats+0.37 ptsper year in office, over 24 years and 4 presidencies
Republicans−0.29 ptsper year in office, over 32 years and 7 presidencies
Both sides have a chart to wave
The Republicans' best card
Reagan −4.47 pts
From 15.07% to 10.60%, January 1981 to January 1989.
The chart they hide: Nixon +2.45 pts
Every president, ranked
Change in percentage points during each term. Best to worst.
- Reagan−4.47 pts
- G.H.W. Bush−2.74 pts
- G.W. Bush−2.05 pts
- Trump I−1.46 pts
- Ford−1.01 pts
- Obama−0.91 pts
- Clinton−0.71 pts
- Trump II (so far)+0.23 pts
- Nixon+2.45 pts
- Biden+4.22 pts
- Carter+6.34 pts
Why this number starts fights
Mortgage rates follow the bond market and the Federal Reserve, which is independent of the White House. They still decide whether millions of people can buy at all. Owners who locked in cheap rates often will not sell, which squeezes supply. One side blames deficits and the other blames tariffs and pressure on the Fed.
How to read it without getting played
No president controls this number alone. Congress, the Federal Reserve, global markets, wars, pandemics and the economy they inherited all move it. A term's score shows what happened on their watch, not what they caused. Anyone who tells you otherwise is selling a side.
Method: the reading in the month a president took office compared with the reading in the month the term ended. The party figure adds up its terms and divides by its years in office.
More numbers people fight about
Show the yearly table
| Year | Value |
|---|---|
| 2026 | 7.18% |
| 2025 | 6.15% |
| 2024 | 6.85% |
| 2023 | 6.61% |
| 2022 | 6.42% |
| 2021 | 3.11% |
| 2020 | 2.67% |
| 2019 | 3.74% |
| 2018 | 4.55% |
| 2017 | 3.99% |
| 2016 | 4.32% |
| 2015 | 4.01% |
| 2014 | 3.87% |
| 2013 | 4.48% |
| 2012 | 3.35% |
| 2011 | 3.95% |
| 2010 | 4.86% |
| 2009 | 5.14% |
| 2008 | 5.10% |
| 2007 | 6.17% |
| 2006 | 6.18% |
| 2005 | 6.22% |
| 2004 | 5.81% |
| 2003 | 5.85% |
| 2002 | 5.93% |
| 2001 | 7.16% |
| 2000 | 7.13% |
| 1999 | 8.06% |
| 1998 | 6.83% |
| 1997 | 6.99% |
| 1996 | 7.64% |
| 1995 | 7.11% |
| 1994 | 9.18% |
| 1993 | 7.13% |
| 1992 | 8.14% |
| 1991 | 8.35% |
| 1990 | 9.68% |
| 1989 | 9.78% |
| 1988 | 10.77% |
| 1987 | 10.61% |
| 1986 | 9.29% |
| 1985 | 11.09% |
| 1984 | 13.14% |
| 1983 | 13.43% |
| 1982 | 13.57% |
| 1981 | 17.04% |
| 1980 | 14.95% |
| 1979 | 12.90% |
| 1978 | 10.38% |
| 1977 | 9.00% |
| 1976 | 8.78% |
| 1975 | 9.09% |
| 1974 | 9.56% |
| 1973 | 8.56% |
| 1972 | 7.45% |
| 1971 | 7.48% |