Sabrina Karl has over two decades of experience writing about savings, CDs, and other banking topics. She is currently a full-time staff writer at Investopedia and one of the country's top experts on how to earn as much as possible on the money you hold in the bank. Before joining Investopedia, Sabrina wrote for Bankrate.com, CreditCards.com, DepositAccounts.com, and RateSeeker.

The states with the cheapest 30-year new purchase mortgage rates Tuesday were New York, Utah, California, New Jersey, Florida, Colorado, and North Carolina. The seven states registered averages between 6.41% and 6.46%.

Meanwhile, the states with the highest Tuesday rates were Washington, D.C., West Virginia, New Mexico, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, and Virginia. The range of averages for these states was 6.55% to 6.58%.

Mortgage rates vary by the state where they originate. Different lenders operate in different regions, and rates can be influenced by state-level variations in credit score, average loan size, and regulations. Lenders also have varying risk management strategies that influence the rates they offer.

Since rates vary widely across lenders, it's always smart to shop around for your best mortgage option and compare rates regularly, no matter the type of home loan you seek.

Rates on 30-year new purchase mortgages have fallen 33 basis points over the last nine days to a 6.50% average -- their cheapest level in more than four months. Back in September, 30-year rates had plunged to 5.89%, a two-year low. But they then surged as high as 7.13% before recently easing lower.