Mortgage rates dropped for the third consecutive week, hitting new lows not seen since 2013, the latest Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey found.
The 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.66% for the week ended Jan. 15, down from 3.73% last week and 4.41% a year ago. This is the lowest level since the week ended May 23, 2013.
The 15-year, fixed-rate mortgage dropped from 3.05% a week ago to 2.98%. A year ago, it sat at 3.45%. This is also the first time the 15-year has fallen below 3% since the week ended May 30, 2013.
In addition, the 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage came in at 2.90%, compared to 2.98% a week ago and 3.10% a year ago.
The 1-year Treasury-indexed ARM averaged 2.37%, slightly down from 2.39% last week. In 2014, it averaged 2.56%.
“Mortgage rates fell for the third consecutive week as oil prices plummeted and long term treasury yields continued to drop despite a strong employment report. The economy exceeded expectations by adding 252,000 jobs in December, which followed an upward revision of 50,000 jobs to the prior two months. The unemployment rate fell to 5.6%, which was the lowest since June 2008,” said Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist with Freddie Mac.
Similarly, Bankrate posted the 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage dropping to 3.80%, down form 3.85% last week.
The 15-year, fixed dipped to 3.11%, down from 3.16%, while the 5/1 ARM fell to 3.09%, down from 3.20% a week ago.
