Freddie Mac mortgage rates fell last week, with shorter-term loans posting the biggest declines and the average rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages retreating further below 5 percent, according to Freddie Mac’s weekly survey of mortgage rates.
Recovery in the U.S. housing market has been fragile. Demand for new and existing homes, after strengthening in earlier months, dropped in December because of cold weather and continuing joblessness. Though housing starts sprang up again in January, an indicator of future groundbreaking fell. In addition, buyers sought to wrap up home purchases before a federal tax credit was set to expire in November, pulling some sales in earlier.
The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.93 percent in the week that ended Thursday, down from the previous week’s 4.97 percent average and 5.04 percent a year ago.
It hit its lowest rate on record earlier this month, when it fell to 4.71 percent.
Rates on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages were 4.33 percent, down from 4.34 percent and 4.68 percent, respectively.
Five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 4.12 percent, down from last week’s 4.19 percent and 5.04 percent a year earlier. One-year Treasury-indexed ARMs declined to 4.23 percent, from 4.33 percent and 4.8 percent.
To obtain the rates, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage required payment of an average 0.7 points. The 15-year fixed and the one-year ARM had a payment of 0.6 points, and the five-year ARM mandated 0.5.
