We would rather you check our work than take it on trust. Every rate, default, and formula on the site traces back to one of the sources below.
Primary sources
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: Weekly national average 30-year and 15-year fixed mortgage rates, the default rate on this site.
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB): Rules and consumer guidance on PMI, escrow, closing costs, and how payments are structured.
- Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED): The machine-readable feed of the Freddie Mac survey that powers our weekly rate update.
- Tax Foundation: property taxes by state: Effective property-tax rates behind our 1.1% default and county-level context.
- U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD): FHA loan rules, including down-payment minimums and mortgage insurance premiums.
- U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA): VA loan eligibility, the funding fee, and the no-down-payment guarantee.
- National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC): Homeowners insurance premium data behind our insurance default.
- Reserve Bank of India (RBI): The repo rate that Indian floating home-loan rates track.
- Bank of England: The base rate that UK fixed mortgage deals are priced against.
- Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA): The cash rate that Australian home-loan rates move with.
How we use them
Rates come straight from the Freddie Mac survey via FRED and are refreshed weekly. Consumer rules on PMI and escrow follow CFPB guidance. Loan-program specifics come from HUD for FHA and the VA for veterans' loans. Country context for India, the UK, Canada, and Australia is drawn from each central bank. The exact formulas are documented on the methodology page.