There was a six-basis-point decline in the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage during the week ending July 30, Freddie Mac said in its latest weekly report.
The 30-year FRM averaged 3.98%, down from 4.04% a week earlier, according to Freddie Mac's
The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.17%, down from 2.95% a week ago and 2.97% a year ago.
The one-year Treasury-indexed adjustable-rate mortgage averaged 2.52% this week, down from 2.54% last week and up from 2.38% a year ago.
The decline in Chinese stocks on Monday drove a sell-off in global equity markets, with the subsequent flight to quality leading to a decline in yields on U.S. Treasuries, said Sean Becketti, Freddie Mac's chief economist, in a news release. That helped push down the rate on 30-year fixed mortgages.
Additionally, mixed news on U.S. home sales and housing prices further clouded the outlook for the direction of the housing market and home prices, Becketti said.
