Mortgage Rates Tick Down

In Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 6.26%, with an average 0.6 point, for the week ending December 22, 2005. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 5.75%. "Long-term mortgage rates dipped because of recently released inflation indicators for November," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist. "Although mortgage rates by and large are higher than they were at the start of this year, they've only risen about one percentage point since hitting a four-decade record low in June of 2003."