Mortgage Rates Fall Near 2015 Lows: Freddie Mac

Mortgage rates fell for the sixth straight week as market volatility continued, according to the Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey.

The survey found that the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage declined to 3.65% from 3.72% the week prior, Freddie Mac said in a news release Thursday. That figure is four basis points below the rate recorded during the same period in 2015.

The average rate for a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage also experienced a noted decrease from last week, falling to 2.95% from 3.01%. This figure too stood below last year's, which was 2.99%.

The 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage had the smallest decrease, dropping to 2.83% from 2.85%. In 2015, the 5-year ARM averaged 2.97%.

While mortgage rates are now close to their 2015 lows, Freddie Mac chief economist Sean Becketti noted that they can move more slowly than other interest rates.

"In a falling rate environment, mortgage rates often adjust more slowly than capital market rates, and the early-2016 flight-to-quality has run true to form," Becketti said in the release. "The 30-year mortgage rate has dropped 36 basis points since the start of the year, while the yield on the 10-year Treasury has dropped 59 basis points over the same period. If Treasury yields were to hold at current levels, mortgage rates might well sink a little further before stabilizing."