Benchmark U.S. mortgage rates fall; Freddie Mac cites inflation data

Freddie Mac: Fixed-rate mortgages head lower.

NEW YORK (MarketWatch)

The national average interest rate on the benchmark 30-year, fixed-rate loan averaged 5.38% in the week ending Thursday, down from last week's 5.59% and the year-ago 6.42%, according to Freddie Mac's weekly survey.

The 15-year fixed-rate loan averaged 4.89%, down from the week-ago 5.06% and the year-ago 6.02%. The five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage averaged 4.97%, compared with 5.17% a week ago and 5.89% a year ago. One-year Treasury-indexed ARMs averaged 4.95% this week, down from last week's 5.04% and the year-ago 5.19%. "Reports of benign inflation figures reversed the upward trend of mortgage rates this week," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist