Average mortgage rates ticked downward this week, providing would-be homebuyers and mortgage refinancers with a respite from the climb that began in early May.
The average interest rate on a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage was 4.37 percent this week, compared with 4.51 percent last week and 3.53 percent a year ago, Freddie Mac reported Thursday.
Meanwhile, the 15-year, fixed-rate loan carried an average interest rate of 3.41 percent. That compared with 3.53 percent last week and 2.83 percent in the same week a year ago.
The decline in rates is largely due to comments made by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke July 10 that sought to ease market worries that the Fed was about to ease its bond purchasing program, which has long kept a lid on interest rates.
Freddie Mac chief economist Frank Nothaft also noted that several reports pointing to a slowing of the national economy put downward pressure on rates. On Wednesday, the Census Bureau reported that housing starts in July fell to the slowest pace since August 2012.
