Mortgage Rates Continue To Fall

(RTTNews) - Mortgage rates or interest rates on home loans dropped to the lowest level since early 2018, according to mortgage provider Freddie Mac.

Releasing the results of its primary mortgage market survey, Freddie Mac said that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage or FRM averaged 4.37 percent for the week ending February 14, 2019, down from last week's 4.41. A year ago at this time, the average rate was 4.38 percent.

The 15-year FRM this week averaged 3.81 percent, down from last week's 3.84 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 3.84 percent.

The 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage or ARM averaged 3.88 percent, down from 3.91 percent last week. It was 3.63 percent a year ago.

Sam Khater, Freddie Mac's chief economist, says, "The combination of cooling inflation and slower global economic growth led mortgage rates to drift down to the lowest levels in a year. While housing activity has clearly softened over the last nine months and the lingering effects of higher rates from last year are still being felt, lower mortgage rates and a strong job market should rekindle demand for the spring homebuying season."