Average fixed mortgage rates in the U.S. continued to decline in
the latest week, according to mortgage-finance company Freddie Mac
(FMCC), during a period marked by weakened bond yields and oil
prices.
"Mortgage rates continued to fall, albeit at a slower pace,"
Freddie Mac Chief Economist Frank Nothaft said Thursday. Housing
starts picked up in December and beat market expectations, while
falling energy costs helped push producer prices and consumer
prices lower, he noted.
For the week ended Thursday, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage
averaged 3.63%, compared with 3.66% a week earlier and 4.39% a year
earlier. Rates on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 2.93%,
compared with 2.98% the previous week and 3.44% a year earlier.
Five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages, or
ARMs, on average, was at 2.83%, compared with 2.9% the previous
week and 3.15% a year earlier. One-year Treasury-indexed ARM rates
on average were 2.37%, unchanged from the previous week but below
the year-earlier average rate of 2.54%.
Write to Tess Stynes at tess.stynes@wsj.com
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