Mortgage rates dropped for a fourth consecutive week, with the average rate for a 30-year fixed rate mortgage falling to 4.55%, down from 4.62% the previous week, according to Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey.
A year ago at this time, the average rate for a 30-year was 3.99%.
“Rates continued their two-month slide and are currently hovering around the same level as the early summer, which was before the deterioration in home sales,” says Sam Khater, chief economist for Freddie Mac, in a release. “The negative headlines around the financial markets are concerning but the economy remains healthy, so the drop in mortgage rates should stem or even reverse the slide in home sales that occurred during the second half of 2018.”
For the week ended Dec. 27, the average rate for a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage was 4.01%, down from 4.07%. A year ago at this time, the 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.44%
The average rate for a five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) was 4.00%, up from 3.98%. A year ago at this time, the five-year ARM averaged 3.47%.