The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rate (FRM) fell for the ninth consecutive week, setting a new record low since the McLean, Virginia-based Freddie Mac began compiling its weekly Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) in 1971.
The FRM averaged 5.10 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending December 31, 2008, down from last week when it averaged 5.14 percent, according to the report. This time last year, the average rate was 6.07 percent.

The 15-year FRM averaged 4.83 percent with an average 0.7 point this week, down from last week’s average of 4.91 percent, and the lowest since March 25, 2004, when the average was 4.70 percent.
“Since the end of October of this year, these rates have declined by about one and one-third percentage points, or payment savings of approximately $173 a month for a $200,000 loan,” Freddie Mac VP and chief economist Frank Nothaft said. “As a result, the number of refinance applications for conventional mortgages jumped over 500 percent between the weeks ending on October 31st and December 26th.”
Five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) averaged 5.57 percent this week, with an average 0.7 point, up from last week when it averaged 5.49 percent. A year ago, the 5-year ARM averaged 5.78 percent.
One-year Treasury-indexed ARMs averaged 4.85 percent this week with an average 0.5 point, down from last week when it averaged 4.95 percent. At this time last year, the 1-year ARM averaged 5.47 percent.