This Week · issue of August 3, 2026
The Rate Climbed to 6.66%
6.66%
The national average 30-year fixed rate for the week of July 30, 2026, from 6.58% the week before; a year ago it was 6.72%. A national average for a borrower with good credit and 20% down, not a quote.
$5.58/gal
New England average, per gallon, as of March 30, 2026. Surveyed only in heating season, this is the season's last reading, not today's street price. A year ago: $3.64.
What is being built
770 homes were permitted across the 101 towns in 2025, the latest complete year: 263 of them from actual filings, the rest the Census Bureau's estimates for months towns didn't file.
Sources
- Freddie Mac via FRED · U.S. Energy Information Administration · U.S. Census Bureau Building Permits Survey. Figures through the week of this issue, 2026-08-03.
"Figures through" is the period the publisher's data describes; "checked" is only when we last asked. The full sourcing: sources and method.