Freddie Mac released its weekly update on national mortgage rates on Thursday morning, showing a slight moderation of rates around the country.
Thirty-year fixed-rate mortgages (FRMs) slipped two basis points over the past week, falling to 4.39%, while 15-year FRMs shed a single basis point, down to 3.44%.
Among adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs), paths diverged as 1-year ARMs mimicked the moves of the longer-term mortgage market, falling two basis points to 2.54%, but 5/1 ARMs moved the other way -- rising five b.p. to hit 3.15%.
Commenting on the results, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist Frank Nothaft in a statement pointed to "subdued" inflation in the economy in general as a reason for the depressed mortgage rates. "The Consumer Price Index was up to 0.3 percent in December after being unchanged in November," noted Nothaft, after consumer prices rose only 1.5% in all of 2013.
