Mortgage Rates Near Record Lows: Freddie Mac

Amid stabilization within the housing market, ""Freddie Mac"":http://www.freddiemac.com/ reported Thursday that mortgage rates continued to inch down this week, hovering near record lows.

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""Mortgage rates eased for the second week, while economic data releases suggest that the housing market may be in a slow state of recovery,"" said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac VP and chief economist.

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For the week ending February 18, 2010, the average rate for 30-year fixed mortgages dropped to 4.93 percent with an average 0.7 point, Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) found. This week's average marked a 0.04 percent decline from last week and a year-over-year reduction of 0.11 percent.

In addition, Freddie Mac reported a dip in the average rate for 15-year fixed mortgages. Coming in at 4.33 percent with an average 0.6 point, rates for 15-year fixed mortgages fell 0.01 percent from week-to-week and decreased 0.35 percent from the same week in 2009.

According to the PMMS, adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) also followed the overall trend of declining rates. The 5-year Treasury-indexed ARM averaged 4.12 percent with an average 0.5 point this week, down 0.07 percent from last week and 0.92 percent year-over-year. The 1-year Treasury-indexed ARM averaged 4.23 percent with an average 0.6 point, marking a 0.1 percent drop from week-to-week and a 0.57 percent decline from last year at this time.