Just checked some mortgage data from back in September 2023 and it's wild how much things shifted in that window. The 30-year rates hit 7.68% that week, up from 7.60% the week before. Meanwhile 15-year mortgages were sitting around 6.81%, which was actually down slightly from 6.84% the previous week. The spread between the two terms stayed pretty consistent. If you were looking at jumbo mortgages around that time, they were at 7.43% for 30-year fixed. What caught my eye was how the APR numbers told a different story than just the interest rates alone. The 30-year APR was 7.59% versus the stated 7.68% rate, so lenders' fees were adding almost a full percentage point to the actual cost. On a $100k loan, you're looking at about $711 monthly payments just for principal and interest at that 7.68% rate. Over 30 years that adds up to roughly $156k in total interest alone. The 15-year option would've been $888 monthly but you'd only pay about $60k in interest total since you're crushing the principal faster. Credit score and down payment made a huge difference back then too. If you had 670+ credit and could put down 20%, you'd qualify for the better conventional rates. Anything below that and you're either looking at FHA loans or dealing with PMI eating into your savings.