Mortgage rates fall to 37-year low

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Mortgage rates fall to 37-year low
Posted: 11:49 AM ET
By Lara Moscrip
CNNMoney.com
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Mortgage rates fell this week, with the
30-year fixed mortgage sinking to its lowest rate in 37 years as the Federal
Reserve cut interest rates to historic lows.

Government-sponsored mortgage lender Freddie Mac said Thursday that fixed
rates on 30-year mortgages averaged 5.19 percent for the week ending Dec. 18.

That’s down from 5.47 percent last week and below the year-ago rate of 6.14
percent.

“Interest rates for 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rates fell for the
seventh consecutive week, moving these rates to the lowest since the survey
began in April 1971,” said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief
economist.

Nothaft credited the decline to the Fed’s decision Wednesday to cut the
federal funds target to a record low and its “standing ready” to purchase
mortgage-related assets as conditions merit.