Mortgage Rates Drop Again Amid Softer Inflation Data

Mortgage rates continued to dip, falling for the fifth consecutive week from their peak early last month. 

The government-sponsored enterprise Freddie Mac released its weekly Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS), showing the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) now averages 6.31%. A slight but welcomed downward trend from the previous week.

This latest report comes at the heels of the Fed's eased-up interest rate hike announcement earlier this week.

"The good news for the housing market is that recent declines in rates have led to a stabilization in purchase demand," commented Sam Khater, Freddie Mac's chief economist. However, he admits that affordability challenges remain for many.

Here are some of the highlights from the most recent PMMS report:

• The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.31% as of Dec. 15, down from last week's average of 6.33%. 
• The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5.54%, also down from last week's average of 5.67%.