Fixed Rates Find New Lows for Second Week in a Row

Amid increases in new construction, homebuilder confidence, and existing home sales, ""Freddie Mac reported"":http://www.freddiemac.com/pmms/ fixed mortgage rates reaching new record lows for the second week in a row.

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""Fixed mortgage rates continued to ease somewhat this week to record lows and should help the ongoing housing recovery,"" said Frank Nothaft, chief economist at Freddie Mac.

The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rate fell to 3.31 percent (0.7 point) over the week ending November 21. The previous week, the rate was 3.34 percent, and last year, the rate stood at an even higher 3.98 percent, according to Freddie Mac.

""Bankrate"":http://www.bankrate.com/ also reported a slight decline in the 30-year fixed rate mortgage. According to Bankrate, the rate fell from 3.54 percent to 3.53 percent over the week. While this is not a record low for Bankrate's index, the new rate is just one basis point higher than the record low recorded in October.

The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage also experienced a decline this week, falling from 2.65 percent to 2.63 percent (0.7 point), according to Freddie Mac's data. This week last year, the rate was 3.3 percent.

Bankrate calculated the rate at 2.86 percent for the week, a slight decline from last week's 2.87 percent.

Adjustable-rate mortgages did not experience the declines seen among fixed-rate mortgages this week.

The 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) remained at 2.74 percent (0.6 point) for the week, unchanged from last week, according to Freddie. However, the rate is down from 2.91 percent last year.

Bankrate reports a slightly lower rate for the 5-year ARM--2.7 percent. This is down from 2.72 percent recorded last week.

The 1-year Treasury-indexed ARM was the only rate to experience an increase over the week, according to Freddie Mac. The rate increased slightly from 2.55 percent last week to 2.56 percent (0.5 point) this week. Last year, the rate was 2.79 percent.