Mortgage rates decline in week

WASHINGTON, Feb. 6 (UPI) -- Interest rates on mortgage loans dropped for the fourth consecutive week, due to weak economic data, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. said Thursday.

Average rates on 30-year fixed-rate loans slid from 4.32 percent to 4.23 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 3.4 percent to 3.33 percent with 0.7 point. A year ago, these loans averaged 2.77 percent.

Rates on five-year adjustable loans averaged 3.08 percent, down from 3.12 percent in the previous week and up from 2.63 percent in the same week a year ago.

For one-year, adjustable rate loans, rates averaged 2.51 percent, down from 2.55 percent. One year prior rates for adjustable one-year loans averaged 2.53 percent.

Rates slipped "following the release of weaker housing data," said Freddie Mac Chief Economist Frank Nothaft.

Pending home sales fell 8.7 percent in December to the lowest level since October 2011. In addition, fixed residential investment negatively contributed to the gross domestic product in the fourth quarter for the first time since the third quarter of 2010, Nothaft said.