Mortgage rates fall, 15-year fixed at record

• Average rate on 15-year fixed mortgage at record low 2.61%25
• In week ended April 25%2C average rate on 30-year fixed home loan at 3.4%25
• In same week a year ago%2C average rate on 15-year fixed mortage was 3.12%25

The average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage fell to 3.4% in the week ended April 25, according to Freddie Mac's weekly survey, out Thursday.

That's down from 3.41% the prior week and headed toward the record low 3.31% of late November. The same week last year, 30-year fixed mortgage rates averaged 3.88%.

Even better, for those who qualify, the average rate on a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage hit a record low 2.61% this week, down from 2.64% in the prior week. Freddie Mac began keeping nationwide average records in 1971.

"The housing market is getting a boost with mortgage rates hovering at or near record lows," said Frank Nothaft, a vice president and chief economist at Freddie Mac.

Nothaft cited:

• Existing home sales averaged an annualized pace of 4.9 million the first three months of the year, the most since the fourth quarter of 2009.

• New home sales topped 424,000 during the first quarter, strongest showing since the third quarter of 2008.

• February marked the thirteenth consecutive month the Federal Housing Finance Agency has recorded a rise in its 12-month U.S. house price index, which rose 7.1% in the twelve months through February, the most since May 2006.

However, despite the gains, Nothaft said, FIFA's home price index is still 13.6% below its peak in April 2007.

In its weekly survey of mortgage lenders nationwide, Freddie Mac said a key adjustable rate mortgage also hit a record low. The average rate on 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages fell to an all-time low of 2.58% from 2.6% a week earlier. That type of mortgage has been available nationwide since 2005.

And the 1-year Treasury-indexed ARM ticked down to 2.62% in the latest week from 2.63% a week earlier, Freddie Mac said.