Mortgage rates dropped to new lows during the week ended Dec. 18, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey.
Ten-year Treasury yields closed at their lowest level since May 2013, according to the government-sponsored enterprise.
The average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) was 3.80%, down from 3.93% the previous week. A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 4.47%.
The average rate for a 15-year FRM was 3.09%, down from 3.20% the week prior. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 3.52%.
The average rate for a five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) was 2.95%, down from 2.98% the week prior. A year ago, the five-year ARM averaged 3.00%.
The average rate for a one-year Treasury-indexed ARM was 2.38%, down from 2.40%. At this time last year, the one-year ARM averaged 2.56%.
‘The 30-year fixed mortgage rate dropped to its lowest point of 2014 this week,’ says Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist, Freddie Mac, in a release. ‘Mortgage rates fell along with 10-year Treasury yields, which closed at their lowest level since May 2013. November housing starts came in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.028 million starts, down 1.6 percent from an upwardly revised October value. Housing starts for the calendar year will likely come in around 1.0 million, above the 2013 pace but lower than forecasters had expected at the start of 2014. Consumer prices declined more than expected in November, with CPI contracting 0.3 percent.’