Mortgage rates are determined by the amount borrowed and personal finances — like credit history, loan terms and down payment — combined with greater economic factors like the federal reserve rate, the prime rate, the overall economy and the housing market.

Note your personal mortgage rate will differ from what you see on Chase’s current mortgage rate page, as certain financial assumptions are made for the purposes of demonstration.

Yes, your credit score can influence your mortgage rate. Past financial decisions as reflected in your credit score help lenders evaluate the risk of lending. Consequently, your credit score can often correlate with the interest rates a bank offers you. The good news is, there are ways to help improve credit before taking out a mortgage including making on-time payments, avoiding new debt and paying off delinquent accounts.

Interest rates and annual percentage rates (APR) are two different ways of expressing the fees a borrower incurs when taking out a mortgage:

1. Interest rate relates to the cost of borrowing, stated as a percentage, on the principal amount of a mortgage. This is the rate the borrower’s monthly payment is based on.

2. APR measures both the interest charged as well as any other costs associated with the loan, such as discount points or lender origination fees. Because APR is designed to show the total cost of a loan, it can be useful when comparing loans from different lenders.

APRs are usually higher than interest rates because they include additional costs on top of the interest rate. Prior to signing a mortgage, the lender must disclose the loan's APR and interest rate to help the borrower understand what they’ll be responsible for paying.

Mortgage rates can change daily as the economy and housing market fluctuate. However, there is no set schedule of when they will change. You can see when Chase’s rates were last updated in the chart above.

A mortgage rate lock occurs when a lender agrees to freeze the borrower’s interest rate while the mortgage application is in process. The agreement typically lasts 30 to 90 days to protect the borrower from potential inflation before closing day.