Would-be home buyers have faced unprecedented challenges in the housing market in the post-pandemic era as surging home prices combined with high mortgage rates made homeownership unaffordable for many.

These are today's mortgage and refinance rates. Mortgage rates might not drop much this month, but they're expected to go down in 2025.

Borrowing against home equity has long been an affordable option for property owners. In fact, both home equity loan and home equity line of credit (HELOC) rates remained well below the cost of alternatives such as credit cards in the post-pandemic era — even as consumer borrowing costs rose across the board in response to the Federal Reserve's interest rate hikes aimed at combating inflation.

Rates for 30-year new purchase mortgages fell Friday, lowering the flagship average to it cheapest level since mid-October. Rates on other loan types showed mixed movement.