Mortgage Rates Lowest in Nearly Four Years

Washington, DC, January 25, 2008-- Mortgage rates hit their lowest levels since March of 2004, Freddie Mac reported Thursday.

The government-sponsored loan buyer said the rate on a 30-year fixed-rate loan fell to 5.48 percent from 5.69 percent last week.

"Economic news released last week confirmed the weak condition of the housing market," Freddie Mac (FRE, Fortune 500) vice president and chief economist Frank Nothaft said in a statement.

"When the Federal Reserve cut the target federal funds rate by three quarters of a percentage point, the action was extraordinary in both the magnitude and the timing of the rate cut," he said.

Freddie Mac said 15-year fixed-rate loans averaged 4.95 percent, down from 5.21 percent the previous week and from 5.98 percent last year.

Adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 5.13 percent, down from 5.40 percent.