WASHINGTON – Mortgage rates fell in the latest week to the lowest on record and posted their ninth drop in the last 10 weeks, according to Freddie Mac.
The average for the benchmark 30-year fixed-rate mortgages fell from 4.42% last week, to 4.36% this week; the average for the 15-year, fixed-rate loan dipped to 3.86% from 3.90%. Both rates are the lowest since Freddie began tracking mortgage rates in 1971.
ARM rates also held steady near record lows, with the average for the five-year ARM unchanged from last week at 3.56%; and the average for the one-year ARM dipping to 3.52%, from 3.53% last week.
The lower rates followed recent declines in U.S. Treasury yields after a wave of reports suggested the economic recovery was faltering.
This week’s housing data showed home resales fell in July beneath already bearish expectations to their slowest pace in 15 years, while new home sales slumped last month to the worst level since the U.S. Commerce Department began collecting the data in 1963.
