30-Year Fixed-Rate Mortgage Down Three Basis Points

Mortgage rates continued their slow descent this week.

The 30-year FRM averaged 6.46% Thursday, according to Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey. That is down from last week when it averaged 6.49% and significantly down from a year ago when it averaged 7.23%.

“Although mortgage rates have stayed relatively flat over the past couple of weeks, softer incoming economic data suggest rates will gently slope downward through the end of the year,” said Freddie Mac’s Chief Economist Sam Khater. “Earlier this month, rates plunged and are now lingering just under 6.5%, which has not been enough to motivate potential homebuyers. We expect rates likely will need to decline another percentage point to generate buyer demand.”

The 15-year FRM averaged 5.62%, down from last week when it averaged 5.66%. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 6.55%.