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Mortgage rates slide again
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March 2, 2000: 12:58 p.m. ET
Fed actions spur confidence; housing market shows signs of cooling
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Mortgage rates slipped for the second consecutive week, according to a survey released by Freddie Mac Thursday.
The average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was 8.27 percent for the week ending March 3, down from 8.31 percent a week earlier. Last year, the same mortgage stood at 7.06 percent.
The average for a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage dipped to 7.84 percent from 7.92 percent last week. Twelve months ago the rate averaged 6.70 percent.
"Recent speeches and testimony by the Fed have spurred market confidence that they will stay on top of inflation by taking the appropriate actions, thereby stabilizing long-term interest rates," Robert Van Order, chief economist for Freddie Mac, said.
[Click here to see a breakdown of U.S. mortgage rates by region.]
A one-year adjustable rate mortgage averaged 6.68 percent, down from 6.73 percent a week earlier. Last year, a 1-year adjustable-rate mortgage averaged 5.74 percent.
Van Order said these higher rates of interest are signs that "the housing market may be cooling down to a more normal, sustainable level."
"What I would conclude is that we are backing away from the robust levels of housing activity we saw in the spring and summer of last year, but there is by no means a swoon going on in housing activity just yet," Michael Moran, chief economist with Daiwa Securities, told CNNfn.
Freddie Mac (FRE: Research, Estimates), or Federal Home Mortgage Corp., is a publicly traded company the government set up in 1970 to provide a flow of funds to mortgage lenders.
It buys mortgages from banks, bundles them, and then sells them as mortgage-backed securities. Its products and the products of other similar agencies have become increasingly popular as an alternative to government-backed bonds, particularly with international investors. 
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