US Mortgage Rates Drop

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Mortgage rates in the U.S. decreased this week, amid concerns of a weakening economic recovery, according to the latest data from Freddie Mac. 

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.5 percent, down from the 4.57 percent last week. This time a year ago the 30-year FRM average 3.49 percent. 

Mortgage rates have fluctuated in the recent weeks leading up to the Federal Reserve's bond-buying program announcement. In September, consumer sentiment fell to its lowest reading since April, Freddie Mac reports. 

"This, in part, was why the Federal Reserve chose to maintain its MBS and bond-buying program at its September 12th and 13th monetary policy committee meeting," Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist, Freddie Mac, said in the release. "It also cited the tightening of financial conditions observed in recent months, which in the case of the housing market means the rise in mortgage rates since May."

The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.54 percent this week, down from 3.59 percent last week. 

The one-year Treasury-indexed ARM averaged 2.65 percent, down from 2.67 percent last week.