Rates

5/1 ARM Rate Today: 6.38%

Track current 5/1 ARM Rate and find the lowest available rate for your situation.

5/1 ARM Rate — Current Rates

6.38%
6.5%
6.35%
+0.03%
6.67%
5.82%–7.44%

Current 5/1 ARM Rate rates are averaging 6.38% as of December 2024, according to the Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey. ARM rates start lower than fixed rates but adjust after the initial period. The 5/1 ARM is fixed for 5 years then adjusts annually.

What Moves ARM Rates Specifically

ARM pricing operates on fundamentally different mechanics than fixed-rate products, since you're really pricing two things: the initial discounted period and the future fully-indexed rate.

  • SOFR curve expectations: ARM margins are set based partly on where the market expects SOFR to be at each future adjustment date — if the market expects rates to fall, ARM initial rates can be offered more aggressively since lenders anticipate lower resets too
  • Cap structure affects pricing: Tighter cap structures (lower periodic/lifetime caps) that limit the lender's future upside typically come with a slightly higher initial rate to compensate for the capped ceiling
  • Prepayment/refinance assumption: Lenders price ARMs assuming a meaningful share of borrowers will refinance or sell before the first adjustment, which is part of why the initial discount can be steep — the lender is betting the loan won't reach its higher fully-indexed rate for most borrowers

Rate Context

The 50-year average for 30-year fixed rates is approximately 7.7% (Freddie Mac data). Today's rates, while elevated compared to the 2020–2021 pandemic lows (which touched 2.65%), are near or below the long-term historical average. Buyers waiting for 3–4% rates again may wait a very long time.

Frequently Asked Questions

The large majority of ARMs originated since 2023 use SOFR (Secured Overnight Financing Rate) as the index, having transitioned away from LIBOR, which was phased out by regulators. Some older ARMs still outstanding may reference LIBOR-successor rates per their original contract terms, but new originations are essentially all SOFR-indexed now.

It depends entirely on your holding period. If you're confident you'll sell or refinance before the initial fixed period ends (5, 7, or 10 years depending on the ARM type), the risk of an unfavorable adjustment is largely moot. If there's meaningful uncertainty about your timeline, the fixed-rate certainty may be worth the higher starting rate.

Yes, and many ARM borrowers do exactly this — refinancing into a new fixed-rate or new ARM product before the first adjustment date if the rate environment has changed favorably, or simply to lock in payment certainty. This involves standard refinance closing costs and full underwriting, the same as any other refinance.