NEW YORK (CNNMoney) (Feb, 6 2014) — Maybe the days ofrock-bottom mortgage interest ratesaren’t numbered, after all. Once again, rates are creeping down towards 4%.
Rates dropped 0.09 percentage point this week to 4.23% for a 30-year, fixed -rate home loan, according to the latest weekly report from Freddie Mac.
Mortgage rates started the year at 4.53%, and have sunk each week in 2014, falling a total of 0.3 percentage point.
Borrowers with a 4.23% mortgage would pay $982 a month on a $200,000 balance, compared with $1,017 on a 4.53% loan.
Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac’s chief economist, attributed the move to cooling home sales.
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“Mortgage rates fell further this week following the release of weaker housing data,” he said. “The pending home sales index fell 8.7% in December to its lowest level since October 2011.”
The drop in mortgage bond purchases by the Federal Reserve, the so-called taper, that started last month, was expected to push rates gradually higher.
