30-year mortgage rate dips to 4.95 percent
A home is seen for sale in Mount Lebanon, Pa., early in 2011. The average rate on the 30-year mortgage topped 5 percent this week for the first time since April. Higher rates could further hamper the struggling housing market ahead of the spring's prime home-buying season. Credit: AP File, 2011
The average rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage fell below 5 percent this week, as investors sought more Treasury notes amid growing tension in the Middle East.
Freddie Mac says the average rate on the 30-year loan slipped to 4.95 percent from 5 percent. It hit a 40-year low of 4.17 percent in November.
The average rate on the 15-year fixed home loan fell to 4.22 percent from 4.27 percent. It reached 3.57 percent in November, the lowest level on records dating back to 1991.
Mortgage rates tend to track the yield on the 10-year Treasury note. It fell this week as investors shifted money out of stocks and into safer assets amid escalating violence in Libya.