SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Freddie Mac (FRE:Freddie Mac
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Last: 0.70-0.05-6.65%
11:00am 12/11/2008
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FRE 0.70, -0.05, -6.6%) said Thursday that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage average dropped from a week ago to a four-and-a-half year low as bond yields declined. The 30-year fixed-rate average was 5.47% with an average 0.7 point for the week ending Dec. 11, down from 5.53% a week ago. Last year the average was 6.11%. The 30-year average has not been lower since March 25, 2004, when it averaged 5.4%, Freddie Mac said. “Following the release of the November employment report, which showed the largest monthly decline in jobs since December 1974, bond yields fell slightly this week allowing fixed-rate mortgage rates room to ease back a little further,” said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac chief economist, in a statement.
