McLEAN, Va. – Interest rates for home mortgage rates continued their free fall this week, with the average for the benchmark 30-year loan falling to near a four-year low.
The average for the 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage dropped to 5.48% this week, from 5.69% last week, the lowest since hitting 5.40% in March 2004, according to Freddie Mac.
Rates on 15-year, fixed-rate mortgages continued to decline to 4.95%, from 5.21%, their lowest since April 2004.
ARM rates also followed lower, with the average for the one-year ARM falling to 4.99% this week, from 5.26% last week; and the average for the five-year ARM slipping to 5.13%, from 5.40%.
Frank Nothaft, chief economist for Freddie Mac, said the weakening economy and the slump in the housing market are pushing rates lower. “Economic news released last week confirmed the weak condition of the housing market,” said Nothaft.
"When the Federal Reserve cut the target federal funds rate by three quarters of a percentage point, the action was extraordinary in both the magnitude and the timing of the rate cut," he said.
