U.S. fixed mortgage rates declined slightly, said the Primary Mortgage Market Survey released Thursday by Freddie Mac, reflecting an unstable recovery of housing market.
The U.S. mortgage giant said the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage ( FRM) decreased from 4.14 percent in the previous week to 4.12 percent in the week ending Thursday, lower than the 4.40 percent of the same period last year.
The 15-year FRM, a popular guide for those looking to refinance, edged down to 3.24 percent this week from 3.27 percent last week.
The five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) decreased from 2.98 percent last week to 2.97 percent this week, while the one-year Treasury-indexed ARM rose from 2.35 percent last week to 2.36 percent this week.
The recovery of U.S. housing market has showed signs of slowdown since the second half of last year, as sharp increases in home prices and limited inventories. In June the existing home sales increased 2.6 percent compared with May, reaching the highest pace since October 2013, while the new home sales fell 8.1 percent on a monthly basis.