Home Building Articles
Freddie Mac: Mortgage Rates Fall Again
June 23, 2009
The national average interest rate on the benchmark 30-year, fixed-rate loan averaged
5.69% in the week ending Thursday, down from 5.87% a week ago and 6.23% a year ago.
The 15-year fixed-rate loan averaged 5.21% down from 5.43% a week ago and 5.98%
a year ago. Both the 30-and 15-year fixed-rate mortgages are at their lowest levels
since July 2005, according to Freddie Mac. The five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid
adjustable-rate mortgage averaged 5.40% compared with 5.63% a week ago and 6.04%
a year ago. "The latest retail sales report indicated that shoppers scaled back
spending in December, as retail sales declined by 0.4% from November's level," said
Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist. "Particularly weak
were sales of building materials, garden equipment and supply stores, which fell
by 2.9% from the previous month. The declines aggravated concerns about the well-being
of the economy and exerted downward pressure on the mortgage rates."
*Source: Michelle Donley, MarketWatch Pulse 2008.