Mortgage Rates Today, Oct 28: Rates Edge Higher as Fed Holds
Mortgage rates edged slightly higher Wednesday as the Federal Reserve held its policy rate steady and longer-term Treasury yields drifted up on the day.
FRANKLIN, Tenn., Oct. 28, 2026 — In today's Iron Hill Brief Daily Mortgage Market Update for Wednesday, October 28, 2026, mortgage rates moved slightly higher, but the Federal Reserve's afternoon announcement had little to do with it.
Matthew Graham of Mortgage News Daily wrote that the bond market was already a bit weaker than Tuesday's levels well before the Fed's 2 p.m. Eastern statement, so the average lender set rates "just a hair higher." The Mortgage News Daily index put the average 30-year fixed rate 0.02 percentage points above Tuesday's 7.33% and only 0.05 points above last week's low of 7.30%. Graham tied the recent upward pressure to improving investor sentiment around the tech sector.
Fed Holds Steady, Two Members Want a Hike
The Federal Open Market Committee kept the federal funds target range at 3.75% to 4% on a 10–2 vote. The two dissenters, Lisa D. Cook and Beth M. Hammack, preferred a quarter-point increase. The statement described economic activity as expanding at a strong pace and said inflation "remains elevated."
Graham noted that markets ended up trimming their expectations for future rate hikes, likely because of Fed Chair Warsh's general "wait and see" tone at the press conference. That showed up most in shorter-term yields. Treasury data show the 2-year yield fell to 4.67% from 4.70% on Tuesday, while the 10-year yield rose to 5.05% from 4.99%.
Longer-Term Yields Drift Higher
Graham said not all of the 10-year move should be pinned on the Fed. Overnight weakness was easier to connect to lower funding costs for some cloud-computing companies under recent scrutiny, and 10-year yields actually finished below their midday levels after Oracle said it expected lower funding needs.
For buyers comparing scenarios while rates hover in this range, the monthly payment calculator shows how small rate changes affect a budget. With the Fed decision behind them, markets now turn back to economic data and the tech sector for direction.
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