NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Mortgage rates remained low this week as the Federal Reserve announced Tuesday that it is still in no hurry to raise short-term interest rates.

For the week ended March 18, the rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 5.38 percent, with an average 0.7 point payable up front, down from the previous week when it averaged 5.41 percent, according to mortgage finance firm Freddie Mac.

The 30-year averaged 5.79 percent a year earlier.

The 15-year mortgage remained unchanged at 4.69 percent, also with 0.7 of a point payable up front. A year ago it was 5.11 percent.

The one-year adjustable rate mortgage (ARM) averaged 3.39 percent, with 0.6 of a point payable up front, versus 3.41 percent the previous week. A year earlier it averaged 3.75 percent. This marks the lowest level for the ARM since Freddie Mac began tracking it in 1984.

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On Tuesday, the Fed left its fed funds rate unchanged at 1 percent, a level last touched in 1962, and indicated it was in no hurry to raise it, given the sluggish labor market and a benign picture on inflation.

The low interest rates environment will also continue to benefit the housing market.

"Mortgage rates this week are barely above the generational low levels we saw in June of last year," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac chief economist. " Indeed, Freddie Mac's annual average forecast of long-term mortgage rates is approximately 5.75 percent for the 30-year FRM this year, well below the 33-year historical average.

"That said, we are currently predicting that this will fuel yet another record year for total home sales," he added.

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Freddie Mac's average mortgage rates are based on a survey of 125 lenders nationwide.

Freddie Mac (FRE: down $0.85 to $59.60, Research, Estimates), or Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp., is a publicly traded company the government established in 1970 to provide a flow of funds to mortgage lenders. It buys mortgages from banks, bundles them and then resells them as mortgage-backed securities.

Its products, and the products of other similar entities, have become popular as an alternative to government-backed bonds, notably with international investors.