Still-Flat Mortgage Rates Hover Near Record Lows

Mortgage rates changed little from last week, continuing consecutive record lows from previous weeks.

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""Freddie Mac"":http://www.freddiemac.com/ found the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaging 3.98 percent, down a notch from 3.99 percent, while the 15-year loan hovered near 3.21 percent, down from 3.23 percent last week.

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The 5-year adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) fell from 2.90 percent to 2.86 percent, with the 1-year mortgage unchanged at 2.78 percent.

""Average weekly mortgage rates were little changed this week amid mixed signals on the health of the economy,"" ""Frank Nothaft"":http://www.freddiemac.com/bios/exec/nothaft.html, VP and chief economist with Freddie, said in a statement.

Finance Web site ""Bankrate.com"":http://www.bankrate.com/ fielded few changes. The 30-year loan inched forward to 4.25 percent from 4.23 percent, while the 15-year loan fell from 3.44 percent to 3.42 percent.

Bankrate.com said the 5-year and 1-year ARMs reached 3.15 percent, up from 3.14 percent last week.

""The movement in mortgage rates has tempered in the past two weeks, following a run-up from the February lows,"" the Web site said in a statement. ""Going forward, it will take either faster job growth indicative of further strengthening in the economy, or a disappointment in corporate earnings and consumer spending that renews worries about the economy, to drive rates decidedly in one direction or another.""