Source: Sacramento Bee –
Low mortgage rates are on the holiday menu for home buyers, with lenders surveyed by Freddie Mac offering 30-year fixed-rate home loans this week at an average of 3.97 percent, down from 3.99 percent a week ago.
The average 30-year rate, which started 2014 at 4.5 percent, has been below 4 percent for five of the last seven weeks, according to Freddie Mac, which has published weekly reports on the 30-year loan since 1971.
The latest survey from the bailed-out finance giant, released Wednesday, showed the average rate for a 15-year fixed mortgage was the same as last week, 3.17 percent. Start rates for adjustable loans also were unchanged.
Freddie Mac’s chief economist, Frank Nothaft, described economic news in the United States as “uplifting” going into the holidays. Third-quarter home resales topped expectations, Nothaft noted, while growth in the gross domestic product was revised up from 3.5 percent to 3.9 percent.