For the second week in a row, mortgage rates continued to drop.

Freddie Mac reported the rates of 30-year fixed-rate mortgages fell to 4.95 percent (0.6 point), and Bankrate reporting a drop as well, from 5.16 percent last week to 5.09 percent (.45 point) this week.

The 15-year fixed rate mortgage averaged 4.22 percent (0.7 point) this week, down from last week’s 4.27 percent.

A year ago this time, 15-year FRMs averaged 4.40 percent.

In Bankrate’s survey, the 15-year FRM averaged 4.37 percent (.38 point), down from 4.43 percent last week.

Bankrate’s 5-year adjustable rate mortgage averaged 3.93 percent (.39 point), while Freddie Mac’s survey reported the 5-year ARM averaging 3.8 percent (0.6 point).

According to Freddie Mac’s survey, last year this time the 5-year ARM averaged 4.16 percent.

“Fixed mortgage rates eased again this holiday week amid mixed inflation data reports,” said Frank Nothaft, VP and chief economist of Freddie Mac. “Although the core consumer price index for January rose slightly above the market consensus, house prices fell 4.1 percent in the fourth quarter of 2010 compared to the same period in 2009, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller National Index. In addition, the level of the index was the lowest since the fourth quarter of 2002.”

Mortgage applications increased 13.2 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey.