Inman

Mortgage rates go lower

Rates on fixed-rate mortgages tracked by Freddie Mac hit new lows this week, with 30-year fixed-rate loans averaging 4.42 percent with an average of 0.7 point.

That’s down from 4.44 percent last week and 5.12 percent at the same time a year ago, and is a new low in records dating to 1971.

It was the ninth straight week that 30-year-fixed mortgage rates met or set a new record low in Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey.

"Investors in long-term bonds appear very confident that inflation will remain in check, and as a result long-term fixed mortgage rates have continued to fall," said Amy Crews Cutts, Freddie Mac’s deputy chief economist, in a statement.

Rates on 15-year fixed-rate loans averaged 3.9 percent with an average 0.6 point, down from 3.92 percent last week and 4.56 percent a year ago. That, too, was a new low in records dating to 1991.

Rates on 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) loans averaged 3.56 percent with an average 0.6 point, unchanged from last week but down from 4.57 percent a year ago. The 5-year ARM has never been lower in records dating to 2005.

The 1-year Treasury-indexed ARM averaged 3.53 percent with an average 0.7 point, unchanged from last week but down from 4.69 percent a year ago.