Mortgage rates dropped slightly in the week ending November 1, inching closer to all-time lows, according to Freddie Mac.
The government-sponsored enterprise's Primary Mortgage Market Survey showed 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 3.39 percent, down from 3.41 percent in the previous week. A year ago, 30-year FRMs averaged 4 percent.
Meanwhile, 15-year FRMs averaged 2.7 percent, a slight decline from last week's average of 2.72 percent. Last year at this time, they averaged 3.31 percent.
"Mortgage rates remained relatively unchanged this week on signs of a growing economy and low inflation," said Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist at Freddie Mac. "The economy grew 2 percent in the third quarter with residential fixed investment contributing 0.3 percentage points to growth."
Despite mortgage rates remaining near record lows, mortgage application volume continued to decline, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Overall, activity decreased 4.8 percent in the week ending October 26, while refinance activity dropped 6 percent. However, purchase requests were up 0.5 percent.
One explanation for the declining activity is tight lending standards, which have prevented many people from being able to take advantage of low rates.
