Short answer. The annual average 30-year fixed mortgage rate in 2010 was 4.69%, the lowest reading since 1971 and the first full year of the post-crisis Fed quantitative-easing era.
The 2010 annual average 30-year fixed mortgage rate was 4.69% per the Freddie Mac PMMS — the lowest reading in the 39-year history of the series at that point. The Federal Reserve had cut the federal funds rate to 0–0.25% in December 2008 and held it there throughout 2010. The first round of quantitative easing (QE1, $1.25T in mortgage-backed securities) had concluded in March 2010; QE2 ($600B in Treasury purchases) launched in November.
The 2010 housing market
The Federal Reserve's MBS purchases compressed mortgage spreads to historically narrow levels. Despite the low rates, existing-home sales fell to 4.19M as the first-time-buyer tax credit (which had run from January 2009 to April 2010) expired and pulled demand forward. Median existing-home prices were $173,100, essentially flat YoY.
The Dodd-Frank year
The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, signed in July 2010, established the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and laid the groundwork for the Qualified Mortgage and Ability-to-Repay rules that would take effect in January 2014. Mortgage credit availability was historically tight — average FICO scores on conventional originations were roughly 750, well above the pre-crisis 690-700 average.
How 2010 compares to today
The 4.69% rate of 2010 is more than 2 percentage points below the 2024 reading of 6.84%. Combined with median home prices of $173K (vs $408K in 2024), housing in 2010 was roughly 60% more affordable in monthly-payment terms than it is today.
Sources
U.S. Census Bureau Survey of Construction; National Association of Realtors Existing Home Sales report; Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey; National Bureau of Economic Research Business Cycle Dating Committee.