There's no "GDP rate" in mortgage pricing; we suspect you mean the federal funds rate, and that one doesn't directly set mortgage rates either. The federal funds rate is the overnight rate banks charge each other, set by the Fed. Mortgage rates come from the bond market, specifically mortgage-backed securities, with the 10-year Treasury as the most-watched proxy. Mortgage rates track the 10-year closely, in the same general direction, never in lockstep. A bank or credit union rate is simply that lender's mortgage pricing built on top of the same bond market, plus its own margin and costs. No single institution's rate is "the" rate. On getting the best of it, shop all three channels: - Banks and direct lenders, each pricing its own single product. - Credit unions. Some keep loans on their own books rather than selling into the secondary market, which occasionally lets them price more aggressively than an agency lender. An occasional edge, so let actual quotes decide. - A broker, who can access many banks' and investors' pricing at once. Compare specific written quotes on the same day for the same scenario, and the real differences in margin and appetite show up. For the market backdrop, the Mortgage News Daily rate table is right here on our site.