30-Year Rate Remains Fairly Stable

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate was almost unchanged at 5.81% for the week ending Dec. 26 compared to 5.82% the previous week, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey.The average 15-year fixed mortgage rate also fell slightly to 5.13% from 5.14%, while the average rate for one-year Treasury-indexed adjustable-rate mortgages dropped to 3.73% from 3.77%. Fees and points averaged 0.7 points for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages, 0.6 points for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages and 0.5 points for ARMs. "The economy is ending the year on a modest but upbeat tone. Interest rates cannot rise too quickly any time soon, because the inflation indicators have been declining. But interest rates cannot fall by too much either, because consumer spending is still quite strong. As a result, mortgage rates were virtually unchanged over this holiday week," said Amy Crews Cutts, Freddie Mac's deputy chief economist. "And for the year as a whole, interest rates for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages were the lowest since Freddie Mac began its survey in 1971." A year ago, the average 30-year and 15-year fixed rates were 5.93% and 5.32%, respectively, and the average one-year ARM rate was 4.01%, Freddie Mac said. Freddie Mac can be found on the Web at http://www.freddiemac.com.