source : money.cnn.comNEW YORK (Reuters) -- Interest rates on U.S. 30-year fixed-rate mortgages dropped for the 11th straight week to a record low, according to a survey released on Thursday by home funding company Freddie Mac.
Interest rates on the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.96%, with an average 0.7 point, for the week ending Jan. 15, down from the previous week's 5.0%, according to Freddie Mac.
Low mortgage rates have spurred a surge in home refinancing loans, and refinancing to lower monthly payments should provide a bit of relief to strapped consumers amid rising unemployment and a shrinking economy.
But the precipitous drop in mortgage rates has made only a marginal impact on demand for loans to purchase a home, offering little sign of a recovery from the worst housing downturn since the Great Depression.
Mortgage rates have dropped dramatically ever since the Federal Reserve unveiled a plan last month to buy up to $500 billion of mortgage securities backed by government-sponsored enterprises, Fannie Mae , Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae. The program also entails buying up to $100 billion of debt issued by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Home Loan Banks.
"Interest rates for 30-year fixed rate mortgages fell for the 11th straight week to another record low, due in part to the slowing economy and government actions," Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist, said in a statement.
The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage has not been lower since Freddie Mac started the Primary Mortgage Market Survey in 1971.
The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.65%, up from 4.62%.
One-year adjustable rate mortgages, or ARMs, fell slightly in the week to an average of 4.89% from 4.95% last week.
Freddie Mac (FRE, Fortune 500) said the "5/1" ARM, set at a fixed rate for five years and adjustable each following year, averaged 5.25%, compared with 5.49% a week earlier.
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