30-Year Rate Drops Below 5.5%

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate fell from 5.69% to 5.48% over the seven-day period ended Jan. 24, its lowest level since March 2004, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey. The average 15-year fixed mortgage rate fell from 5.21% to 4.95%, the average rate for five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages declined from 5.40% to 5.13%, and the average rate for one-year Treasury-indexed ARMs decreased from 5.26% to 4.99%, Freddie Mac reported. Fees and points averaged 0.4 of a point for fixed-rate mortgages and hybrid ARMs and 0.6 of a point for one-year ARMs. "When the Federal Reserve cut the target federal funds rate by three quarters of a percentage point, the action was extraordinary in both the magnitude and the timing of the rate cut: it is the largest cut since October 1984, and also the first time in more than six years that the Fed took such action outside of a scheduled Federal Open Market Committee meeting," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac's chief economist. ".... As a result, mortgage rates continued trending down for the fourth consecutive week across loan products." A year ago, the average 30-year and 15-year fixed rates were 6.25% and 5.98%, respectively, and the average hybrid and one-year ARM rates were 6.00% and 5.49%, Freddie Mac said. Freddie can be found online at http://www.freddiemac.com.