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Brian is the Co-Founder of MonitorBankRates.com. For over 18 years, he has utilized his background in enterprise infrastructure to engineer proprietary systems that track rates from over 8,000 financial institutions.

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| August 31, 2026 | 6 min read

Fixed Mortgage Rates Reach New Summer Highs While ARM Rates Fall

30-year mortgage rates rose to 6.503% and 15-year rates to 6.045% this week, the highest averages of the summer reports for both. Adjustable-rate loans moved the opposite direction, and the extra rate on a jumbo loan shrank to almost nothing.

The two halves of the mortgage market went separate ways this week. On the fixed-rate side, average home loan rates resumed their summer climb: 30-year mortgage rates rose 0.018 points to 6.503% and 15-year fixed mortgage rates climbed 0.041 points to 6.045%, putting both above the highs they set in mid-August. On the adjustable side, every average fell: 5/1 ARM rates eased to 5.901%, 7/1 ARM rates were essentially flat at 6.024%, and the thinly quoted 3/1 ARM dropped 0.146 points to 5.780%. The result is the widest fixed-versus-adjustable split of our August reports.

Fixed rates climb while adjustable rates fall

Conventional mortgage rates, national average APR since late March

Average APRs from MonitorBankRates.com's nightly collection, updated daily. The figures in the text and table below are average note rates, which run below APR.

Both fixed-rate benchmarks moved past their mid-August highs. 30-year mortgage rates added 0.018 points to 6.503% and 15-year fixed mortgage rates rose 0.041 points to 6.045%, the larger move of the two. Because the shorter term climbed faster, the distance between them narrowed to 0.458 points. A borrower weighing a 30-year mortgage or a 15-year is comparing the same tradeoff as a month ago, at slightly higher levels on both sides.

Adjustable-rate loans fell across the board. 5/1 ARM rates eased 0.029 points to 5.901%, the lowest average we track, and now sit 0.602 points under 30-year fixed rates, the widest that difference has been in our August reports. 7/1 ARM rates slipped 0.003 points to 6.024%, a change too small to mean anything. The 3/1 ARM dropped 0.146 points to 5.780%, the week's largest move; that average comes from the smallest ARM pool we track, so the direction is more reliable than the exact figure, but it now clearly holds the low end of the market again.

Jumbo mortgage rates are almost even with conventional

30-year jumbo mortgage rates fell 0.024 points to 6.537%, a third straight weekly decline, while conventional 30-year rates rose. That leaves the jumbo average just 0.034 points above the conventional one; in late July the difference was 0.197. The 15-year version tells the same story a different way: 15-year jumbo rates didn't move at all this week, holding at 6.058%, but because conventional 15-year rates rose, the premium shrank to 0.013 points. Jumbo averages come from the smallest lender pools we track and the exact figures deserve caution, but at this point a borrower above the conforming limit is quoted, on average, nearly the same rate as everyone else.

Jumbo and FHA rates, national average APR since late March

Average APRs from the nightly collection. VA loans are omitted from this chart pending a data-quality fix in the nightly series; the VA table figures below are verified.

Government-backed loans swapped places again. VA mortgage rates rose 0.053 points to 6.252% while FHA rates sat exactly unchanged at 6.227%, so the VA average is back above FHA one week after moving below it. The two have traded the lower spot repeatedly this month while staying within a few hundredths of each other, and the rate an individual borrower gets depends far more on the lender and the loan file than on which program's national average is ahead this week. Buyers comparing local offers can line up Texas mortgage rates against these national averages.

Weekly change by loan type (percentage points)

Average note rates, August 24 to August 31. Green bars fell; red bars rose.

Mortgage rates this week: August 24 vs. August 31

Jackson Hole reset the September odds

On Friday, at the Jackson Hole symposium, Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh came closer than he has before to saying rate increases may be needed, calling short-term interest rates "the predominant tool" for the Fed's mandate and declining to promise anything beyond that. Futures markets responded by raising the odds of a quarter-point hike at the September 15-16 meeting to about 60%, from roughly 40% before the speech. For mortgage shoppers, the chain matters more than the headline: the Federal Reserve doesn't set mortgage rates, which follow longer-term bond yields, and those yields build in expectations ahead of the meeting rather than waiting for it. Some of whatever September brings is already inside this week's quotes. The 30-year average has stayed inside a 0.02-point band since mid-August even as the odds shifted, which says the bond market's bigger judgment about inflation hasn't changed much yet. The July 29 decision was a fifth straight hold at 3.50% to 3.75%, with three members already voting for an increase.

Where that leaves a buyer this week

This week's 30-year increase adds about $5 a month to the payment on a $400,000 loan, small on its own but stacked on top of a summer of increases. The larger numbers are in the differences between loan types. At 5.901%, a 5/1 ARM runs about $156 a month less than a 30-year fixed loan on that same $400,000, in exchange for a rate that can change after year five. Borrowers above the conforming limit are being quoted almost the same average as conforming borrowers. Run any of these rates against your own numbers with the mortgage calculator, and week-to-week movement for every loan type is on our mortgage rate trends page.

Get the insurance quote before you lock the rate

A mortgage quote is only part of the monthly number; the lender will require homeowners insurance on the property, and in many markets the premium moves the payment more than a week of rate changes does. State lines matter here as much as loan types: our MBR Home Insurance Burden Index ranks all 50 states by how heavily insurance costs weigh on homeowners. Buyers in this issue's spotlight state can start with our Texas homeowners insurance guide; getting a real premium quote on a specific house before locking a rate keeps the full payment from surprising you at closing.

The bottom line for borrowers

Fixed mortgage rates are at their summer highs, adjustable rates are at their August lows, and the space between the two is the widest of our recent reports. That makes this a week for comparing structures, not just lenders: the answer to fixed versus adjustable, or conforming versus jumbo, moved more this month than any single lender's pricing did. Behind the 6.503% average, lenders in our data are quoting 30-year loans from just under 5% to nearly 9%; where your quote lands in that range still matters more than anything that happened this week.