Data Analysis

Freddie Mac reported the 30-year fixed mortgage rate at 6.71 percent for the week ending September 3, 2026, up from 6.66 percent a week earlier and 6.50 percent a year earlier.

The 15-year fixed rate moved above 6 percent to 6.04 percent, from 5.98 percent the prior week. On a $340,000 loan the 30-year rate adds about $47 a month against the same week last year.

Freddie Mac put the 30-year fixed mortgage rate at 6.71 percent for the week ending September 3, 2026, up from 6.66 percent the week before and 6.50 percent in the same week of 2025. The 15-year fixed rate came in at 6.04 percent, above the 5.98 percent of the prior week and the 5.60 percent of a year earlier. Both rates come from Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey, published every Thursday at noon Eastern. For a Florida buyer borrowing $340,000, the 30-year rate works out to about $2,196 a month in principal and interest.

How much did mortgage rates move this week?

Five basis points on the 30-year and six on the 15-year. That is a small weekly move by the standards of this survey, and on its own it changes very little for a buyer comparing quotes.

The more useful comparison is the year. In the first week of September 2025 the same survey showed 6.50 percent. The gap of 21 basis points is the part a buyer actually feels, and it points in the wrong direction for anyone who spent the past twelve months waiting for rates to come down.

The longer arc matters more still. Freddie Mac's 30-year rate bottomed at 5.98 percent in the week ending February 26, 2026. From that low the rate has added 73 basis points. A buyer who was shopping in late February and is shopping again now is looking at a different monthly payment on the same house.

What does 6.71 percent cost a Florida buyer?

Florida Realtors reported a statewide median single-family sale price of $425,000 in July 2026, up 3.7 percent from a year earlier, on 23,870 closed sales and 4.5 months of supply. Take that median, put 20 percent down, and the loan is $340,000.

At 6.71 percent over 30 years, principal and interest run about $2,196.20 a month. At the 6.50 percent of a year ago the same loan runs about $2,149.03. The difference is $47.17 a month, or roughly $566 over a year, on an identical house at an identical price.

Measured from the February low of 5.98 percent, the same $340,000 loan has gone from about $2,034.10 to $2,196.20. That is $162.10 a month and about $1,945 a year.

These are Momentum Research calculations using the Freddie Mac rates above. They cover principal and interest only. Property taxes, homeowners insurance and any association dues sit on top, and in much of Florida the insurance line is large enough to change which houses a buyer can reach.

Why does the 15-year rate crossing 6 percent matter?

The 15-year fixed rate at 6.04 percent is 67 basis points below the 30-year. That spread is the trade a borrower is being offered: a much higher monthly payment in exchange for a lower rate and a far shorter payoff.

On the same $340,000 loan, the 15-year payment is about $2,876.47 a month against $2,196.20 for the 30-year. The monthly difference is roughly $680. Over the life of each loan, the 15-year borrower pays about $177,764 in interest and the 30-year borrower about $450,632, assuming both loans run to term and neither is refinanced or paid off early.

Very few Florida buyers at the statewide median will choose that payment. The 15-year rate is more relevant to the refinance question and to buyers with large down payments, which in Florida means the cash-heavy coastal segments more than the first-time buyer market.

What does this mean for Florida buyers this fall?

Florida is in an unusual position. Rates are higher than they were a year ago while the state's inventory picture has loosened, with Florida Realtors reporting 4.5 months of single-family supply in July. Buyers are paying more to borrow and getting more to choose from at the same time.

That combination shows up in negotiation rather than in price. A Florida seller facing 4.5 months of supply has less leverage than a seller in a market with two months of supply, and a buyer who cannot change the rate can still change the price, the closing costs or the repairs.

The near-term calendar matters here. The Federal Open Market Committee meets September 15 and 16, and the August Consumer Price Index publishes September 11. Mortgage rates are set in the bond market rather than by the Fed directly, and the 30-year fixed rate tracks the 10-year Treasury more closely than it tracks the federal funds rate. Neither of those events guarantees a move in either direction, and this desk does not forecast one.

Limitations

Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey is a national average of rates offered to well-qualified borrowers with conventional, conforming loans and a 20 percent down payment. An individual Florida borrower's quote will differ with credit score, loan size, down payment, property type and lender. Jumbo loans, which cover a meaningful share of South Florida transactions, are not in this survey at all.

The survey is a weekly average, not a daily rate. Rates quoted to a borrower on any given day during the week can sit above or below the published figure.

The payment figures in this article are Momentum Research calculations using a $340,000 loan amount, the published Freddie Mac rates and standard amortization. They are principal and interest only. Florida property taxes, homeowners insurance, wind and flood coverage where required, and association dues are excluded, and those lines vary widely across the state.

The $425,000 median price is the statewide Florida single-family figure for July 2026 from Florida Realtors and is used here only as a scale for the payment math. It is not a metro-level figure, and county and metro medians across Florida sit well above and below it. Condominium and townhouse transactions are a separate series.

The February 26, 2026 low of 5.98 percent is the low point of the 30-year series within 2026 as published in this survey. No claim is made here about where the rate sits in any longer history.

Sources

Freddie Mac, Primary Mortgage Market Survey, week ending September 3, 2026, freddiemac.com/pmms.

Florida Realtors, Florida Single-Family Homes Market Detail, July 2026, released August 17, 2026, floridarealtors.org.

Payment calculations by the Momentum Research Data Desk.

Disclosure: Jon Brooks is a co-founder of Momentum Realty, a Florida real estate brokerage that owns and funds Florida Housing Intelligence. Momentum has a financial interest in Florida real estate transactions, including in markets named here. See our editorial standards.