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30-year-mortgage rate falls to record low of 3.56%

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Mortgage rates are at record lows, with the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage average falling to 3.56% in the week ending July 12 from 3.62% in the prior week, Freddie Mac said Thursday in its weekly report. The rate was 4.51% a year earlier, according to Freddie, a buyer of residential mortgages. "Following a lackluster employment report for June, long-term U.S. Treasury bond yields eased somewhat this week allowing fixed mortgage rates to reach yet another record low," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac's chief economist. The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage also hit a record low, declining to 2.86% in the most recent week from 2.89% in the prior week. Meanwhile, the average rate on the 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage hit a record low, falling to 2.74% from 2.79%. The 1-year Treasury-indexed ARM ticked up to 2.69% from a record low of 2.68%.