Rates Fall

Home Mortgage Rates Fell in Latest Week(December 16, 2005)

-- Freddie Mac reports a slight decline in the national average commitment rate on a 30-year, fixed mortgage to 6.30 percent from 6.32 percent during the past week, while the national average commitment rate on a 15-year loan slipped to 5.85 percent from 5.87 percent over the same time span.

The average rate on a one-year, adjustable-rate mortgage fell to 5.15 percent, and the five-year hybrid ARM dipped to 5.77 percent from 5.78 percent.

Freddie Mac chief economist Frank Nothaft attributes the modest decreases to hints from the Federal Reserve that it may soon stop hiking rates. Nothaft notes that "the financial market breathed a sigh of relief, and rates eased somewhat."

Source: The Wall Street Journal (12/16/05)