Mortgage loans get cheaper in the past week

WASHINGTON, Jan. 30 (UPI) -- Interest rates on mortgage loans dropped for the third consecutive week, in part due to weak housing data, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. said Thursday.

Average rates on 30-year fixed-rate loans slid from 4.39 percent to 4.32 percent with 0.7 points in the week, Freddie Mac said.

A year ago, 30-year fixed-rate loans were priced at 3.53 percent.

Average interest rates on 15-year fixed-rate loans dropped from 3.44 percent to 3.4 percent with 0.6 point. A year ago, these loans averaged 2.81 percent.

Rates on five-year adjustable loans averaged 3.12 percent, down from 3.15 percent in the previous week and up from 2.7 percent in the same week a year ago.

For one-year, adjustable rate loans, rates averaged 2.55 percent, up from 2.54 percent. One year prior rates for adjustable one-year loans averaged 2.59 percent.

Rates slipped as new home sales dropped 7 percent in December, said Freddie Mac Chief Economist Frank Nothaft.

Home prices also declined 0.1 percent from October to November, the S&P/Case-Shiller home price index report said.