July 26, 2026 | Mark Luis Foster

The Federal Reserve of St. Louis has published an interesting interactive chart that shows the roller coaster ride of mortgage rates since the early 1970s. It was late 1981 when everything peaked; one wonders how anyone with a nearly 19% APR mortgage survived for any length of time.

Rates started falling precipitously after that, but ebbed and flowed with some rocky economic times, falling into the two-percentage point rate in 2020-2021. The 30-year rates now hover around 6.5%, and that’s been stifling some home buying across the country and giving pause on some “move now” decision-making.

I can remember each of my home purchases over the decades and explored the chart with some eye-popping reactions on those dates. One particular reaction was when my wife and I bought into an HOA in the 1990s and secured an Adjustable Rate Mortgage; seeing what happened during that time on the chart in relation to the larger view was, let’s just say, disturbing. The rates were not going in our favor at that point. I remember we were quick to refinance.

You can view the interactive chart HERE.  They have other interesting charts on the same page (including a 15-year mortgage comparison).