Rates Fall Further

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate fell from 6.14% to 6.11% over the seven-day period ended Dec. 7, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey.The average 15-year fixed mortgage rate fell from 5.87% to 5.84%, the average rate for five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages declined from 5.95% to 5.92%, and the average rate for one-year Treasury-indexed ARMs decreased from 5.46% to 5.43%, Freddie Mac reported. Fees and points averaged 0.5 of a point for fixed-rate mortgages and hybrid ARMs and 0.7 of a point for one-year ARMs. "Continued signs of slowing in the housing market and weakness in the manufacturing sector helped keep mortgage rates down this week," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac's chief economist. ".... Looking forward in the housing market, we think that housing is about two-thirds of the way through the correction, and should stabilize by midyear 2007." A year ago, the average 30-year and 15-year fixed rates were 6.32% and 5.87%, respectively, and the average hybrid and one-year ARM rates were 5.78% and 5.16%, respectively, Freddie Mac said. Freddie Mac can be found online at http://www.freddiemac.com.