by Calculated Risk on 1/15/2015 08:33:00 PM

From Freddie Mac: Mortgage Rates Decline for Third Consecutive Week

Freddie Mac today released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®), showing average fixed mortgage rates falling for the third consecutive week as bond yields continued to drop despite a strong employment report. Averaging 3.66 percent, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is at its lowest level since the week ending May 23, 2013 when it averaged 3.59 percent. This also marks the first time the 15-year fixed rate mortgage has fallen below 3 percent since the week ending May 30, 2013.

30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 3.66 percent with an average 0.6 point for the week ending January 15, 2014, down from last week when it averaged 3.73 percent. A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 4.41 percent.
emphasis added

Friday:
• At 8:30 AM ET, the Consumer Price Index for December. The consensus is for a 0.4% decrease in CPI, and for core CPI to increase 0.1%.

• At 9:15 AM, the The Fed will release Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization for December. The consensus is for no change in Industrial Production, and for Capacity Utilization to decrease to 80.0%.

• At 9:55 AM, the University of Michigan's Consumer sentiment index (preliminary for January). The consensus is for a reading of 94.1, up from 93.6 in December.