Mortgage Rates Near 7.3% Today: A 30-year mortgage is costing more again. Freddie Mac’s average rate reached 7.28% on October 1, 2026, up from 6.95% three weeks earlier. For a buyer borrowing $400,000, that rate works out to roughly $2,730 a month in principal and interest, before taxes, insurance and other housing costs. That has pushed some families to look at an arrangement that has nothing to do with a bank; borrowing from a parent, grandparent or another relative.
A properly structured family loan can give a younger family member access to money at a rate that may be below a conventional mortgage. It can also turn the older generation's cash into an income-producing asset. The tax rules are where the arrangement gets more complicated.
