Mortgage Rates
Loan Types Compared
Not every buyer should be quoted the same product. VA and USDA loans price below conforming today, and both are widely available in Northeastern Pennsylvania.
As of September 3, 2026
Rate and Payment by Program
| Program | Rate | Monthly P&I | Term |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conforming 15-year A shorter term at a lower rate, with a much higher monthly payment. | 6.007% | $2,111 | 15 yr |
| VA Veterans, active duty and some surviving spouses. No down payment required and no monthly mortgage insurance. | 6.431% | $1,569 | 30 yr |
| USDA Rural and many small-town addresses, subject to income limits. Much of Luzerne, Wyoming and Susquehanna County qualifies. | 6.566% | $1,591 | 30 yr |
| FHA Lower credit scores and down payments as small as 3.5%, with mortgage insurance for the life of most loans. | 6.571% | $1,592 | 30 yr |
| Conforming The standard 30-year fixed, within Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loan limits. | 6.744% | $1,620 | 30 yr |
| Jumbo Loan amounts above the conforming limit. | 6.815% | $1,632 | 30 yr |
Principal and interest on a $250,000 loan. Rates are national daily averages by program and do not include mortgage insurance, funding fees or guarantee fees, which differ sharply between these programs and can outweigh the rate difference. Eligibility, not price, is usually the deciding factor.
Why VA and USDA Matter Here
VA is 0.313 points below conforming today, worth about $52 a month on a $250,000 loan, and it needs no down payment. USDA eligibility covers a large share of the addresses we list outside the Wilkes-Barre and Scranton cores. Both are worth checking before assuming a conventional loan.
Daily indices: Optimal Blue Mortgage Market Indices, retrieved from FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Weekly average: Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey, retrieved from FRED. Figures on this page are read from published data at build time and were last refreshed 2026-09-05. Rates are national averages, not quotes, and are not an offer of credit. Your rate depends on credit, loan-to-value, property type, occupancy and lender.