States where home mortgage interest rates held steady or declined in 2024

Physicians can spend so many hours at work that it feels like they live there.

Sometimes those long hours make it feel extra special when the shift is done and they return to their actual homes.

Buying a house has been difficult in 2024 because the Federal Reserve Bank raised interest rates in hopes of slowing inflation that took off during the COVID-19 pandemic, when interest rates were at record lows. The Fed lowered its key interest rate in September, but that came after mortgage interest rates generally were rising earlier this year.

Even so, there are some states where home mortgage interest rates held steady or even dipped slightly earlier this year.

This slideshow presents the 10 states where interest rates had the lowest increases, and even some decreases, from the first quarter to the second quarter of 2024. All data come from the WalletHub report, “States Where Mortgage Interest Rates Are Increasing the Most,” published online Oct. 3. The numerical rankings in this slideshow represent the rank among the 50 states. For the top 10 states with the greatest home mortgage interest rate increases, click here.

“Although interest rates are still down a bit from the highs we saw last year, they’re a far cry from the historic lows during the pandemic,” said Chip Lupo, analyst for WalletHub, the online financial information provider.