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Mortgage Rates For Week Ending January 10th, 2008

McLean, VA – Freddie Mac (NYSE:FRE) today released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®) in which the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 5.87 percent with an average 0.4 point for the week ending January 10, 2008, down from last week when it averaged 6.07 percent as well. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 6.21 percent.

The 15-year FRM this week averaged 5.43 percent with an average 0.4 point, downfrom last week when it averaged 5.68 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 5.96 percent.

Five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) averaged 5.63 percent this week, with an average 0.5 point, down from last week when it averaged 5.78 percent. A year ago, the 5-year ARM averaged 6.03 percent.

One-year Treasury-indexed ARMs averaged 5.37 percent this week with an average 0.4 point, downfrom last week when it was 5.47 percent. At this time last year, the 1-year ARM averaged 5.44 percent.

(Average commitment rates should be reported along with average fees and points to reflect the total cost of obtaining the mortgage.)

"The latest employment report showed that the economy added 18,000 jobs in December, the smallest gain since August 2003, and the unemployment rate jumped to a two-year high of 5 percent. In addition, the Institute for Supply Management's index of non-manufacturing business activity showed that the service sector had the slowest expansion in nine months during December," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist. "The National Association of Realtors also indicated a drop in its pending home sales index for November, signaling a possible slowdown in December sales. These weak economic reports renewed concerns about economic conditions in the near future. As a result, mortgage rates came down across the board, with 30-year fixed mortgage rates at their lowest level in more than two years.

"Because average mortgage rates have come down more than a quarter of a percentage point in the past two weeks, there has been a pickup in refinance activity as borrowers take advantage of the lower rates. For the first week of 2008, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported an increase in the refinance share of mortgage applications and the pace of overall applications, both at the highest levels in four weeks."

Freddie Mac is a stockholder-owned corporation established by Congress in 1970 to support homeownership and rental housing. Freddie Mac purchases single-family and multifamily residential mortgages and mortgage-related securities, which it finances primarily by issuing mortgage-related securities and debt instruments in the capital markets. Over the years, Freddie Mac has made home possible more than 50 million times, ensuring financing for one in six homebuyers and more than four million renters.